Special Donor Profile:
Thomas '56 and Bette Wolff
From the Division of Athletics to the School of Business, few family names have left such a lasting, intergenerational impact on UConn as the Wolffs.
Thomas Wolff ’56 (photo), Bette, his wife of 60 years, and their three children (Greg ’74, Gary and Debi Davis ’79) have endowed no fewer than seven funds, supporting areas as wide-ranging as swimming and basketball scholarships, along with an annual business plan competition for entrepreneurial MBA students.
More than 50 years since he graduated cum laude in economics, Tom and Bette Wolff remain among UConn’s most devout philanthropists and fans. They have held season tickets for men’s basketball since 1950. Their son, Greg, is a former UConn swimmer, and the family still regularly attends games and swim meets together, followed by ice cream at the UConn Dairy Bar, a decades-long tradition.
The founder and chairman of Wolff-Zackin & Associates, Wolff credits much of his success in business to his UConn experience, particularly working with the late Professor Emeritus of Insurance and Finance David Ivry, and a degree of luck.
Commuting to classes in 1952, Wolff was fresh from service in Korea and working part-time testing milk for UConn’s cooperative extension system and selling insurance. Ivry took him under his wing and encouraged him to consider insurance full-time.
“He was a dynamo; such a tremendous influence on me,” Wolff recalls. “I had picked up selling insurance as just a part-time thing to get through school, but Dave Ivry put the finishing touches on me.”
Those initial steps catapulted Wolff to success running one of Connecticut’s leading financial services companies. On campus, his presence and leadership has inspired others.
“He is an incredible man of dignity, huge integrity, with the highest standards and values,” says Donald “Dee” Rowe, former UConn men’s basketball coach and one-time instructor for Wolff’s son, Greg. Rowe says that Wolff’s friendship and good counsel greatly impacted his career at UConn starting in the turbulent 1960s, and the two have remained close friends. When Rowe helped launch the UConn Athletic Development Fund, he says Wolff was an early advocate of the need to give back.
“He stepped up to support Athletics early on, and he’s never stopped,” Rowe says. “He’s totally committed to making our world a better place. He’s an example and an inspiration to everyone who has been privileged to touch his life. The Wolff family’s giving has left an incredible legacy for the University and UConn’s student-athletes.”
The Wolff name is prominent on campus. The Wolff-Zackin Natatorium, part of the complex that includes Gampel Pavilion, is home to UConn’s swimming and diving programs. The Wolff Family Park features the iconic statue of Jonathan, the Husky mascot. Additionally, the Wolffs have sponsored a lecture series, endowed a chair in strategic entrepreneurship in the School of Business, and sponsored the Wolff Business Plan Competition for M.B.A. students. The Wolff chair is held by Professor Michael Lubatkin, one of the preeminent scholars in the field.
“Tom Wolff was the visionary for the study of entrepreneurship at UConn,” says John Veiga, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and former chairman of the Department of Management. “From offering a minor in entrepreneurship, to hosting entrepreneurial speakers, what we’re doing today is what he envisioned 20 years ago. He moved us in this direction, and has urged and supported us along. That the state provides $2 million annually to fund our Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has its roots in Tom’s seed money. To me, he is the consummate entrepreneur.”
Jeffrey Hathaway, director of athletics, says that Wolff’s personal leadership has made all the difference.
“UConn is extremely fortunate to have supporters as dedicated, as engaged and as personable as the Wolffs,” he says.
“When you look at the range of programs they have supported, both in Athletics and across the University, you can see that Tom has established a legacy of giving, which not only includes him and his wife, but the entire family.”
Wolff says that Bette has been an active and equal partner in everything since those early days of commuting to classes, and believes supporting UConn is merely a way of giving back. He echoes a point he made in 2003 when awarded the University Medal, UConn’s highest honor.
“My feeling is that UConn owes me nothing. I owe, and my family owes, UConn everything.”
