Investing in opportunity

Back in 1999, while the world panicked about Y2K draining bank accounts and eviscerating investments, the University of Dayton was looking ahead and investing — in its future.

That fall, the University board of trustees and UD’s president, Brother Raymond Fitz, S.M. ’64, gave $1 million of UD’s endowment for a hands-on investment education for students. In 2003, the University named the center the Richard P. and Susan P. Davis Center for Portfolio Management in recognition of the generosity of Dick Davis ’72 and his wife.

Today, assets managed by the students have grown to more than $80 million as the center celebrated 25 years in October. The fund is now the largest student-managed portfolio in the nation, but the center is just as proud of the alumni it has produced.

“I got involved with the Davis Center, learning about what quantitative research was and about the future of finance — it was an information-rich place,” said George Eckerd ’07, a research director at JPMorgan Chase.

Eckerd came back for the center’s 25th anniversary celebration and was one of several alumni on a panel talking to current students. He started his financial career behind the glass doors of the Davis Center, where he began learning about the evolving landscape of financial industry careers — and soon switched his major to applied mathematical economics.

“There was a good alumni network at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers; a few people had gotten jobs there in the years prior,” he said. “Based on previously hiring Davis Center graduates, the firm interviewed us for internships between junior and senior year, and I joined the group.”

Eckerd was hired by BlackRock, which had acquired Merrill Lynch Investment Managers his senior year. He has worked for the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board, and he’s been at JPMorganChase for more than five years.

UD started it all.

“[The Davis Center] set me up really well. I am pretty grateful for that place,” he said.

Senior Nathan Jabaay, a finance and business economics major, began working with the Davis Center as a first-year student. Now, as a senior manager, he said the center’s alumni network is making the center more accessible than ever.

“The most impactful experience is engaging with alumni during our visits to cities like New York, Chicago and Columbus,” Jabaay said. “These candid discussions and their invaluable mentorship have left a lasting impression.”

Like Jabaay, junior finance major Haylee Foerster has also found superior experiential learning opportunities through the center’s alumni network and internship program offered to sophomores and juniors.

“I have been able to grow my network and understanding of capital markets, which helped me secure an internship at Goldman Sachs next summer,” she said. “The Davis Center has changed the trajectory of my academic career.”

In its 25 years, 700 students have gotten real-world experience, mentorship and invaluable classroom learning through the center. Several Davis Center alumni now work at some of the most respected investment firms on Wall Street, including BlackRock, Citadel, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.

A version of this article appears in print in the Winter 2024-45 University of Dayton Magazine. EXPLORE THE ISSUE — MORE ONLINE