Mary and Felipe M. Rodriguez Integrated Business and Engineering program launches
(From left) Karthik Kannan, dean of the Eller College of Management and holder of the Halle Chair in Leadership; John-Paul Roczniak, president and CEO of the University of Arizona Foundation; Felipe M. Rodriguez; Mary Rodriguez; U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly; Gov. Katie Hobbs; Kimberly L. Ogden, Craig M. Berge Interim Dean of the College of Engineering; U of A President Suresh Garimella; and Barbara Borgonovi, president of Naval Power at Raytheon a business of RTX, appear at the Sept. 1 Integrated Business and Engineering Program naming ceremony.
Chris Richards/University Communications
A $10 million donation from Mary and Felipe M. Rodriguez is helping University of Arizona students become superstars in the classroom and the boardroom. The Mary and Felipe M. Rodriguez Integrated Business and Engineering program is a collaboration between the College of Engineering and the Eller College of Management to meet a growing demand for graduates who can take ideas all the way to market.
“Education has always held a special place in our family’s story; our mothers met through education,” Mary said at the Sept. 1 naming ceremony. “Felipe’s mother came from Nicaragua and was my mother’s roommate in college.”
“Our mothers made a pinky promise to marry us, and it happened,” Felipe laughed.
University leaders, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, the Rodriguezes and the program’s inaugural cohort of 21 students celebrated the naming at the Applied Research Building.
"Their investment will strengthen the only undergraduate program of its kind in the state, equipping Wildcats with the skills they need to step confidently into and grow throughout their careers,” said Suresh Garimella, U of A President and Distinguished Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.
David W. Hahn, former Craig M. Berge Dean of the College of Engineering, and Felipe dropped in on the BAJA Wildcat Racing Club some years ago during the Rodriguezes’ visit to see their son, who was attending the Eller College of Management. Hahn and Felipe found engineering students huddled around a car they had designed and built for the national BAJA SAE racing competition – discussing ways to make it faster and more reliable.
“This was the moment the idea began,” Felipe said. “I bet this university would take on my passion and one day create a multidisciplinary degree like engineering and business.”