Students at Howard University's School of Business just got "access to the world," said Wendell E. Mackey, founder, co-CEO and chief investment officer of Channing Capital Management LLC, Chicago.
On March 2, Mr. Mackey cut the ribbon and opened the business school's new Bloomberg Finance Lab, which was outfitted with 12 Bloomberg terminals, thanks to his $250,000 donation.
Mr. Mackey graduated from Howard University in 1985 with a degree in business administration. He made a promise on graduation day to "do something significant for Howard," he said.
It was through conversations with Barron Harvey, dean of the business school, that Mr. Mackey learned the university's finance students — who train on a simulated trading floor and compete in an annual investment contest — didn't have access to Bloomberg's data platform.
"That really shocked me. The power of Bloomberg's platform is tremendous," Mr. Mackey said, noting he and the rest of the Channing Capital staff rely on Bloomberg every day to manage the firm's $3 billion in active U.S. and international midcap value equity strategies.
"Access to Bloomberg will help Howard business school students achieve their goals," he added.
In addition to creating the Bloomberg lab, Mr. Mackey's donation will fund scholarships over the next two years for four Howard University School of Business students from the Chicago area.