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Former Ingram Micro Chief Gives $2.5M to Chapman

Former Ingram Micro Chief Gives $2.5M to Chapman

Chapman University is getting $2.5 million from Jerre Stead,the former chief executive at Santa Ana technology products distributor Ingram Micro Inc.,and his wife, Mary Joy.

The Steads are providing $1.5 million for a chair in a management concept known as servant leadership. They are providing another $1 million in seed money to create a center devoted to leadership development and outreach programs at the Orange-based university.

Chapman’s Organizational Leadership program is set to house the chair and the center. Mark Maier, who set up the leadership program in 1994, will head the new center and hold the chair.

While at Ingram Micro, Stead is said to have practiced servant leadership, which encourages employee development. The current senior manager of Ingram Micro’s legal department, Cathy Ogilvie, has enrolled in the Chapman program.

“The Enron meltdown confirms our desperate need for leaders who are committed to serving others first rather than advancing and enriching themselves first,” Maier said. “Had a servant-leader been at the helm, Enron would not, could not have happened.”

Chapman is only the second known university to endow such a chair. The other chair is held by Arnold Stancell, professor in the School of Chemical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

According to Maier, other servant-led companies include United Parcel Service Inc.,

Southwest Airlines Co. and Mission Viejo-based Merit Property Management Inc.

,Chris Cziborr

Human Options Teams With National University

Newport Beach-based Human Options, a nonprofit agency serving victims of domestic violence, has teamed with San Diego-based National University to upgrade its Costa Mesa counseling center.

Under the agreement, National University master’s degree students in marriage, family and child counseling will gain experience by working with Human Options clients at the counseling center.

In addition, National University is giving Human Options a grant to improve facilities at the center.

,Roger Bloom

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