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Wayne State University breaks ground on new business school

District Detroit

Wayne State University breaks ground on new business school

Detroit’s Wayne State University has broken ground on the Mike Ilitch School of Business. The new building was designed by Detroit-based SmithGroupJJR, and is named after the Little Caesars founder Mike Ilitch.

The school will be part of The District Detroit, a multi-block entertainment district which includes the under-construction Little Caesars Arena. When completed the school will house 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The new building includes open collaboration space, student support facilities, a conference learning center, classrooms, lab space, and faculty offices.

“We’ve already seen a boost in applications as a result of the gift announcement last fall, as prospective students recognize the opportunity that comes from studying in an innovative environment and location like this,” remarked Robert Forsythe, Dean of the Mike Ilitch School of Business.

The genesis of the new school was a gift of $40 million from Mike and Marian Ilitch. The gift is the largest Wayne State has ever received, and is in the top ten for largest gifts to any public business school in the United States.

Along with the Ilitch family’s philanthropic investments in Detroit, the family has an estimated $2 billion of investments in downtown Detroit buildings. These include the Little Caesars Area and a recently announced headquarters for Little Caesars, also designed by SmithGroupJJR.


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