Hy Milgrom, AB’35

Hy Milgrom made a $5 million gift to the University of Chicago’s Center for Urban School Improvement during the Chicago Initiative.

Why I give to the University of Chicago

I support the University of Chicago because I believe the University has the potential to make a major impact on public education in the surrounding communities. I attended Chicago Public Schools from preschool to junior college. After graduating from the University of Chicago, I also taught in the city school system. While I left teaching to pursue business after a few years, I realized public education was a serious social issue and I thought I should make a contribution to improve it.

How I support the University

I made a gift in support of the Urban Teacher Education Program (UTEP) at the University’s Center for Urban School Improvement. The program is an innovative two-year course of study that prepares talented University of Chicago undergraduates for teaching in inner-city schools.

My gift in business terms

I look at the University’s program to improve urban education as a good investment. The problems facing the city’s school system are so complicated that if anybody can improve them by 1 percent, it will be a major accomplishment. In five years, hopefully, we’ll have a lot to show for this investment.

Interesting experiences at Chicago

As a kid growing up on the northwest side of Chicago, I had heard about the University of Chicago’s reputation and I always wanted to go to school there. I spent two years at junior college and a year taking night courses at another university, but eventually I transferred to the University of Chicago Law School. Back then, I could get the AB degree in one year, and I could sample the Law School. I decided I didn’t have the temperament of a lawyer, but I took courses in political science and the business school and the school of education.

I started to work after school when I was 14 years old and I paid my way all through college. I had an assortment of odd jobs—I was an usher at the ballpark and had several sales positions until I started my own business. My first business sold patented fuse plugs door-to-door. Then I founded Sunday and Holiday Awning Service, a company that lowered awnings for downtown retail stores when they were closed. So I was working the entire time I was at the University of Chicago.