Retired Marketing Trailblazer Establishes $15M Gift Supporting Sports Management Program and UMD Athletics

Stephen M. Schanwald ’77, former Chicago Bulls’ executive vice president of business operations and namesake of the Stephen M. Schanwald Sports Management Program in the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, is expanding his longtime support of his alma mater with a new transformational $15 million commitment. 

Schanwald’s latest gift furthers the 12-credit, interdisciplinary undergraduate program that bears his name and is designed to empower students to eventually lead and innovate in the sports industry. It will also benefit the University of Maryland’s men’s and women’s golf programs by supporting the construction of a state-of-the-art golf performance center on UMD’s campus to help student-athletes improve their game.

In recognition of his generosity, the golf facility will be named for him, as well as a newly renovated wing in Van Munching Hall.

Smith School Dean Prabhudev Konana expressed gratitude for Schanwald’s continued investments in the sports management program. The endowment will allow the program to develop a minor and major, hire more faculty and staff, and strengthen its national reputation.

Schanwald plays an active role in the program's curriculum, organizing guest lectures by key sports influencers and helping set up trips to the NFL, NBA and MLB headquarters in New York.

“His transformative involvement extends beyond his generous gift,” said Konana. “He offers his time and extensive industry knowledge to ensure students in the program are prepared to become leaders and innovators in the business of sports."

This gift, along with his $18 million gift in 2024 in support of Maryland Athletics and the Schanwald Sports Management Program, totals a minimum commitment of $33 million toward Forward: The University of Maryland Campaign for the Fearless. The $2.5 billion fundraising initiative aims to expand access to UMD’s world-class education, accelerate groundbreaking research and unite a global community to Do Good.  

“Steve Schanwald’s background gives him a unique perspective on how sports connect us to each other and to institutions,” said UMD President Darryll J. Pines. “His generous gift promises to benefit everything we do at the University of Maryland, from advancing incisive scholarship to building a community of proud and committed Terp students, faculty, staff and alumni.” 

Schanwald rose to sports marketing acclaim in the 1980s and 1990s by dressing up home Bulls games with entertainment, promotions and new community relations programs leading to record-breaking sellouts not just during the Jordan era but beyond that, when the team was in a slump, up until his retirement in 2015.

With his latest gift, he intends to lift the profile of the university’s golf teams.

“The golf performance center will allow us to recruit even greater players, help them reach their full potential and compete for Big Ten and national championships,” Schanwald said.

UMD officials aim to finalize the design of the estimated 5,000-square-foot facility next year. It will include indoor and outdoor hitting bays, a dynamic putting lab and sensors and high-speed cameras that spit out metrics like club speed, angle and force at contact. Other technological tools like Doppler radar will track the ball’s distance and spin rate.

Jim Smith, Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics, said that Schanwald continues to demonstrate what it means to invest in the future of Maryland Athletics.

 "This extraordinary gift will transform the experience for our men's and women's golf student-athletes by providing a world-class training environment while strengthening our ability to recruit, develop and compete at the highest level,” Smith said. “Steve's vision and generosity will have a lasting impact on our golf programs and on generations of Terps to come."

Though the golf performance center will be reserved mainly for UMD’s golf teams, Schanwald encourages business students to take up the sport, noting that it teaches persistence, patience, discipline and calculation, and how to win and lose with grace. As a Bulls executive, he forged many lasting business partnerships on the links, while other outings told him whom to leave out from the negotiating table.

“If your opponent moves the ball just to give himself a better lie, that might be a guy that you don't want to trust that much in business,” he said.

This story was adapted from an article originally published in Maryland Today.