to give his opinion on whether an academic institution had taken Davidson’s donation but ignored his wishes on how it was to be spent. White concurred with Davidson’s suspicions, prompting the latter to cancel future gifts to the institution. Davidson learned a lesson from that experience. “I think he felt that if WDI would have a significant degree of independence from U-M, including its governance, but strongly affiliated and located within the university, that would improve the odds it would stay focused on its purpose,” White said. To ensure the creation of WDI would pass review by the Internal Revenue Service, Davidson hired former tax agents to advise Guardian. Looking for a good model for an independent, nonprofit school, the agents suggested the Poynter Institute in Florida, a journalism school that owned stock in the St. Petersburg Times Company. In December 1991, Davidson approved the preliminary plans and a to-do list of the final details, including how much he was willing to give. His initial offer was $500,000 a year for 10 years. But when White told him the scope and hoped-for impact required a larger gift, Davidson proposed $1.5 million annually for 20 years. The $30 million would be the largest gift ever given to a U.S. business school at the time. White was committed to turning a very good business school into a great one, and Davidson’s gift was part of what was needed to do that. “It was a time of high aspirations and a pretty exciting environment,” he said. “For us, as a public university business school, to land the largest gift to any business school was amazing. It was a big deal. It was national news.” In late winter it was decided that, on April 23, 1992, the rest of the world would be let in on what White, Wilhelme and others at the university had been working on: the William Davidson Institute. “His goal was to foster good research, test the research conclusions in the real world, and then make the results available in practical terms, not just via books, articles and conferences but also by helping set up institutions and curricula and training programs.” 25th Anniversary 7