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"Mr. Steven Grossman - Thank you from my heart for your support, I hope that every day I make you proud that your name is on our school." With these words, Dr. Evelyn Micelotta concluded her acceptance of the inaugural Steven Grossman Chair of Family Business. With an intimate ceremony, �պ����� (�պ�����) Grossman School of Business (GSB) invested Associate Professor Evelyn Micelotta in this prestigious position on November 1, 2024. The investiture was led by Grossman School of Business Dean Sanjay Sharma, with remarks by �պ����� President Patricia Prelock, and a prepared statement from Mr. Grossman who could not attend but watched the ceremony remotely via livestream.

The endowed faculty position is part of the latest example of the generosity and commitment of Steven Grossman ’61, HON’22 and the Grossman Family Foundation. As part of Grossman’s growing legacy at the university, this commitment further solidifies GSB’s reputation as one of the nation's preeminent business schools by expanding its top-ranked Sustainable Innovation MBA (SI-MBA) and Master of Accountancy (MAcc) graduate programs, as well as areas of excellence in entrepreneurship, sustainable business, and family business.

Appointment to an endowed position is among the highest academic honors �պ����� can bestow on a faculty member. Endowed chairs and professorships allow the university to recognize and celebrate academic achievement and further encourage scholarly and service excellence. Endowed faculty positions are a tribute to the holder and permanent legacies for the donors who establish them.

Dr. Evelyn Micelotta, Steven Grossman Chair of Family Business

Dr. Micelotta received her undergraduate and master’s degree from Milan Polytechnic in Italy, and then earned a Ph.D. in Management Engineering from Milan Polytech and a Ph.D. in Strategic Management and Organization from the Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta, Canada. Most recently, she held the Desmarais Professorship in Family Business while teaching at the University of Ottawa in Canada before joining the Grossman School of Business.

Dr. Micelotta’s research focuses on the challenges and opportunities organizations face because of their embeddedness in a broader institutional environment, and her work has been published the Journal of Management, Organization Studies, Academy of Management Annals, Global Strategy Journal, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, and Family Business Review. She is also the author of a book of family firms in the Cambridge Elements in Organization Theory series. Dr. Micelotta regularly presents her work at international conferences, and she has been awarded several recognitions, including the Karen Legge Prize in 2018 – awarded at the Journal of Management Studies Annual Awards.

At �պ�����, Dr. Micelotta continues to focus on the strategic challenges of various organizations, including family-controlled businesses. She is a Family Firm Institute Fellow and Certified Advisor, and as the Steven Grossman Chair of Family Business, she will continue to support and grow family business education, research and practice.

A Legacy of Giving

University of Vermont alumnus Steven Grossman ’61 made an extraordinary gift in 2021 that established two new endowed faculty chair positions, building on the educational excellence that is synonymous with the �պ����� business school that bears his name. Dr. Micelotta joins Associate Professor Felipe Massa, Ph.D. who was invested last year as the inaugural Steven Grossman Chair of Entrepreneurship. Mr. Grossman’s personal philanthropic investment adds to the success generated by the Grossman Family Foundation’s historic 2013 gift of $25 million that transformed business education at the university. At the time, the Grossman Family Foundation’s support created new endowed chairs in sustainable business, entrepreneurship, and finance; helped the school revise and strengthen its undergraduate curriculum; and launched the SI-MBA program, which has since risen and remained in the upper echelon of national and international rankings.

The �պ����� School of Business Administration was named in 2015 in tribute to Grossman’s visionary philanthropy. In addition to the generous support mentioned above, Mr. Grossman has also provided significant contributions to the SI-MBA Investment Fund and to the establishment of the Schlesinger-Grossman Endowed Chair of Family Business. To date, Steven Grossman and the Grossman Family Foundation have contributed over $66 million to the Grossman School of Business. 

“Today we honor and express our deep gratitude to the Grossman Family Foundation for the gift that established the Steven Grossman Chair of Family Business in 2022,” thanked Dean Sharma. “This gift enables Grossman School students to learn from an outstanding scholar whose research will enhance �պ�����’s academic reputation in the field of Family Business. The holder of this chair will influence hundreds of lives through her teaching, research, mentoring, and community outreach.” 

Steven Grossman graduated from �պ����� in 1961 with a degree in Manufacturing and Management Engineering.  He joined his family business, Southern Container Corporation and led it to become the largest independent corrugated box manufacturer in the U.S. before selling it in 2008. He served the university as a member of both the �պ����� Foundation’s Board of Directors and Leadership Council, and as a member of the business school’s Board of Advisors.

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Fundraising for the Grossman School of Business is a major focus for �պ����� Foundation, a nonprofit corporation established to secure and manage private support for the benefit of �պ�����. To inquire about making a gift to the Grossman School of Business, please contact Alex Brady at (770) 842-1510 or alex.brady@uvm.edu. More information about the impact of donors like Steven Grossman and the work of the �պ����� Foundation can be found at .

Event photos by Andy Duback. Headshots by Ben Chiappinelli.