Terri Hughes-Lazzell , Andy Henion
A former Michigan State University basketball player turned business executive is leading a partnership with his company and the Broad College of Business to enhance sales research and education.
Troy-based mortgage lender United Shore and Mat Ishbia, the firm’s president and CEO, will create a new faculty fellow position with the Department of Marketing through a gift of $500,000.
“Talent and workforce development are major issues that Michigan companies are facing,” said Ishbia, a 2003 graduate of the Broad College. “At United Shore, we have huge passion for the quality of programs and curriculum at Michigan State University and are committed to investing in their efforts.”
Ishbia, a former basketball player and student assistant coach under Coach Tom Izzo, was a member of the 2000 national championship team. He said the donation creates more of a partnership with MSU.
“It’s a platform to developing a best-in-class sales program as well as a pipeline between MSU grads to the exciting opportunities that exist in the mortgage industry,” he said.
Following graduation, Ishbia joined United Shore and gained experience in each area of the company as he climbed to the position of president and CEO. With a vision to create a more perfect mortgage world, Ishbia has worked to change the game in the mortgage industry – from a commodity to a service – focused on relationships, knowledge and speed-to-market.
Today, United Shore has about 1,200 employees and has grown into an award-winning top national workplace and home of the nation’s top wholesale lender, UWM. United Shore’s focus on attracting and developing the nation’s top sales talent played a significant role in the company’s investment in the resources and bright minds at MSU.
“Fellow positions enable us to recruit and retain the very best up and coming faculty members,” said MSU Provost June Pierce Youatt. “We are grateful to United Shore and Mat Ishbia’s leadership which will help keep MSU at the forefront of knowledge and teaching in sales to help develop new generations of sales leaders.”
The United Shore gift will allow the Department of Marketing to provide support for a faculty member – even at the assistant professor level – who has exhibited leadership in sales research and sales teaching. A leader in wholesale mortgage lending, United Shore believes in sales as a pivotal and critical aspect of business.
The Broad College of Business seeks to raise more than $136 million through MSU’s Empower Extraordinary capital campaign, and increasing support to recruit and retain top faculty is an important goal.
“The United Shore faculty fellow gift demonstrates confidence in the Broad College and our ability to graduate strategic thinkers who have a business acumen and can make an impact on the business world from day one,” said Sanjay Gupta, acting dean of the Broad College. “This gift helps us in our commitment to develop transformational thinkers and doers who make business happen.”