Carlson Family Foundation gives $15 million to University of Minnesota

The Carlson Family Foundation has announced $15 million in gifts to the University of Minnesota, including $10 million to expand the global reach of its business school, the Carlson School of Management.

The latest gift is one of the largest since the late Curt Carlson, founder of the Carlson company, donated $25 million in 1986 to the business school that bears his name, officials said Thursday.

"The foundation laid by Curt Carlson over 30 years ago propelled the Carlson School to the global stage," President Eric Kaler said in a statement announcing the donation. "Today's gift will advance the Carlson School's capacity for global leadership and have far-reaching benefits."

In all, the Carlson family has contributed more than $68 million to the university, making it the school's largest single contributor, U officials said. Curt Carlson, who died in 1999, graduated from the university in 1937.

Carlson's granddaughter, Wendy Nelson, who chairs the Carlson Family Foundation, said the latest gift is designed "to cement the school's position as a leading business school with a global reach and a powerful purpose — business as a force for good."

The Carlson school has partnerships and student exchange programs in 34 countries and has more than 55,000 alumni in 90 countries.