Muhlenberg Receives $1M Gift to Establish Endowed Professorship in Accounting, Business, Economics, or Finance
The gift from the Breidenthall family will be matched by $1 million from the estate of Edward ’42 and Lois Robertson to sustain faculty in accounting, business, economics, or finance in perpetuity.Friday, May 2, 2025 08:00 AM
The inaugural William R. Breidenthall '41 Professor in Economics Ranajoy Ray-Chaudhuri. Photo by Kristi Morris/Littlewing PhotographyThis gift will allow Muhlenberg to establish the William R. Breidenthall Ph.B., CPA Class of 1941 Professorship in Accounting, Business, Economics, or Finance. Endowed professorships are one of the seven key priorities of Boundless: The Campaign for Muhlenberg, which began its public phase in 2021 and will end June 30.
“Accounting, business, economics, and finance are areas of immense student interest and growth,” says President Kathleen Harring. “Studying these disciplines within the context of the liberal arts leads to powerful outcomes for our graduates. I am so grateful to the Breidenthall family for their support.”
The Breidenthall family has a long relationship with Muhlenberg College beginning with William R. Breidenthall, who graduated from Muhlenberg in the Class of 1941. The Breidenthall family is extremely pleased to make this gift in support of retaining and rewarding the best and brightest faculty members and is excited to remain involved in the pursuit of the best possible business-based education at Muhlenberg.
The inaugural William R. Breidenthall '41 Professor in Economics will be Ranajoy Ray-Chaudhuri. Ray-Chaudhuri, who joined Muhlenberg in 2015, is currently an associate professor of economics and director of the Muhlenberg Scholars honors program. He is a past recipient of the Bridge Builder Award (2017, 2019, and 2022) and the author of two books, "Central Bank Independence, Regulations, and Monetary Policy: From Germany and Greece to China and the U.S." and "The Changing Face of American Banking: Deregulation, Reregulation, and the Global Financial System.” He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the Ohio State University.
The Faculty Excellence Matching Challenge, which is being funded by an $8 million distribution from the estate of Edward ’42 and Lois Robertson, was established to support the Boundless campaign goal of endowing 10 new professorships. Each $1 million gift toward a professorship is matched with $1 million from the estate. Two endowed professorships, the Lentz Professorships in Theatre and Dance, were announced prior to the challenge in 2023.
