August 7, 2008
MEDIA CONTACT: Michelle Sherrard
(202) 994-1423; mcs1@gwu.edu
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS RECEIVES $900,000 FROM ESTATE OF SERGIUS GAMBAL, GW ALUMNUS AND COLONIAL PARKING CO-FOUNDER
WASHINGTON - GW alumnus and Colonial Parking co-founder Sergius Gambal, B.A. '52, has left nearly $900,000 to The George Washington University School of Business through a bequest from his estate. The gift caps more than four decades of generosity to the university. Gambal died in Oct. 2007.
"Sergius Gambal's pride in his alma mater was apparent in so many ways, including using the moniker of GW's athletic teams as the name of his parking company," said Susan Phillips, dean of GW's School of Business. "This gift will sustain his legacy to the university and to the community. We are grateful for Mr. Gambal's generosity."
The bequest will support the business school's Dean's Fund and the work of the Lindner-Gambal Professorship in Business Ethics at the GW Institute for Corporate Responsibility. The professorship was created in 2005 and named for Gambal and his longtime business partner and fellow GW alumnus Thaddeus Lindner, B.A. '51 and honorary Doctor of Public Service '94.
The Lindner-Gambal Professorship was established through the support of Gambal's business colleague A. James Clark, CEO of Clark Enterprises, with a matching gift from the university. Clark saw the endowed chair as a way to honor Lindner and Gambal's commitment to honesty and integrity in business. Timothy L. Fort, one of the world's leading business ethics scholars and director of the GW Institute for Corporate Responsibility, currently occupies the professorship.
Born in Old Forge, Penn., Gambal served in the army during World War II, graduated from GW's School of Business and Public Management, and also attended GW Law School. Gambal and Lindner were still undergraduates when they joined forces to create Colonial Parking in 1948. What started as a business with one unpaved lot and a fee of 30 cents a day at 25th and E streets has since grown into an operation that now parks more than 50,000 vehicles a day throughout the Washington, D.C.-metropolitan area, including at the National Institutes of Health, L'Enfant Plaza, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Located in the heart of the nation's capital, The George Washington University was created by an Act of Congress in 1821. Today, GW is the largest institution of higher education in Washington, D.C. The university offers comprehensive programs of undergraduate and graduate liberal arts study as well as degree programs in medicine, public health, law, engineering, education, business, and international affairs. Each year, GW enrolls a diverse population of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 130 countries.
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