PROVO — More than 20 years ago, the famous late hotelier J. Willard Marriott asked to meet with then-LDS Church Elder Thomas S. Monson in a room at a Marriott Hotel.
As the two men approached the door to the room, Marriott took out the plastic key card and looked at it quizzically.
Then the hotel magnate asked Elder Monson, "How do you work one of these cards?"
Marriott had a nose for business, if not door locks, and the family businesses continue to prosper 23 years after his death. His two sons and their families have donated $18 million to Brigham Young University for a new addition to the building that houses the nationally respected business school that bears the Marriott name.
Friday, President Monson, now head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dedicated that addition to the N. Eldon Tanner Building.
"Bless all the students, that they may recognize that they walk on hallowed ground when entering this building," President Monson said in his dedicatory prayer. "May each one appreciate the past, contemplate the future and work diligently in the present ... May each truly enter to learn and go forth to serve."
The Marriott Family Foundation, run by Marriott's two sons and their families, made the donation after a November 2003 meeting in which Marriott School Dean Ned Hill mentioned the business school was bursting at the seams. He told Bill Marriott Jr. that he could double the 100 number of annual graduates if he had more space.
That piqued Marriott's interest. LDS Church leaders and the Marriotts, who are church members, see the BYU business school as a leadership incubator.
"I saw an opportunity to develop many more business leaders and particularly church leaders," said Bill Marriott Jr., chairman and CEO of Marriott International. "In today's business world, there is a great need for leaders who have a strong code of ethics and fluent language ability. BYU graduates fill this need."
About 79 percent of BYU MBA students are returned LDS Church missionaries, which largely accounts for the fact that 68 percent are bilingual. Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that a Journal/Harris Interactive survey of corporate job recruiters ranked BYU's MBA program at the Marriott School second in the nation for producing graduates with strong ethical standards.
"To invest in these fabulous young people is the best monetary and social investment we can make, certainly better than the current stock market," said Dick Marriott, chairman chair of Host Hotels & Resorts, another family business. --> The business school's national advisory council raised an additional $25 million to complete the $43 million project.
The building cost about $22 million, with about $15 million set aside for an endowment to fund all maintenance for 30 years. The other $6 million paid a portion of the cost of a new parking garage next to the building.
No university or church money was spent.
The First Presidency, Presiding Bishopric and the Tanner Family provided a major gift from the Nathan Eldon Tanner Trust. Tanner was a businessman who became first counselor in the church's First Presidency before his death.
At the original dedication in 1983, then-BYU President Jeffrey R. Holland called Tanner an example of the graduates the Marriott School would produce. "To those who say they lack the time for familiy and profession and church and community, I commend the name of N. Eldon Tanner," Holland said. Now a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Holland attended Friday's dedication with other quorum members — Elder L. Tom Perry, Elder Russell M. Nelson and Elder M. Russell Ballard. Also in attendance were the rest of the church's First Presidency, President Henry B. Eyring and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Hill, the Marriott School's former dean, said graduates will continue to honor Tanner's name. "Will these students then go forth from this beautiful facility to be a leaven in the earth, to raise faithful families, to serve diligently in the church, to be a powerful influence for good in their companies, in their communities, in their families, to be ethical leaders and to be examples of humble followers of Christ? "I believe they will." The Marriotts pledged future help for the school. "Dick and I and our families are deeply honored to have our name over the door at this incredible institution," Bill Marriott Jr. said. "We promise our continued support to provide increased personal competitive advantage to all those who study here."
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