$1.25 Million Dollar Gift To University of Montana From Alumnus [AUDIO]

President Royce Engstrom announced Wednesday that an alumnus and his wife have committed $1.25 million to The University of Montana’s School of Business Administration and College of Arts and Sciences.

Tim O’Leary and Michelle Cardinal of Carson, Wash., have included a provision in their wills that will fund endowments at the School of Business Administration for a faculty fellowship and marketing analytics courses.

O'Leary hails from Billings, and now runs a marketing company called R2C Group that serves clients around the world. O'Leary helps students transition from the world of academia to the real world of business, a world that O'Leary says 'is very unforgiving'.

O'Leary wrote a book about personal responsibility, and wants students to properly prepare for the rigors of the workplace, where performance is required above good intentions.

O'Leary is already deep into the world where advertising intersects with analytics, and wants some of the funds he will donate to help students succeed in their creative writing as well as commercial work.

O'Leary and his wife live in Wind River in Washington State where he raises trout and has a farm in California where grows olives for olive oil.

Tim O' Leary