October 2008

DEVELOPMENT REPORT

Sergius Gambal’s Estate Leaves $900,000 to GW School of Business

Colonial Parking co-founder Sergius Gambal, who died in October 2007, has left nearly $900,000 to the GW School of Business through a bequest from his estate. The gift caps more than four decades of generosity to the University, from which Gambal graduated in 1952.

“Sergius Gambal’s pride in his alma mater was apparent in so many ways, including using the moniker of GW’s athletic teams as the name of his parking company,” says Susan Phillips, dean of the School of Business. “This gift will sustain his legacy to GW and to the community. We are grateful for Mr. Gambal’s generosity.”

The bequest will support the business school’s Dean’s Fund and the work of the Lindner-Gambal Professorship in Business Ethics at the Institute for Corporate Responsibility. The professorship was created in 2005 through the support of Gambal’s business colleague A. James Clark, CEO of Clark Enterprises, with a matching gift from the University, and named for Gambal and his longtime business partner and fellow GW alumnus Thaddeus Lindner.

Clark saw the endowed chair as a way to honor Lindner and Gambal’s commitment to honesty and integrity in business. Timothy L. Fort, one of the world’s leading business ethics scholars and director of GW’s Institute for Corporate Responsibility, currently holds the professorship.

Gambal and Lindner were still undergraduates when they created Colonial Parking in 1948. What started as an unpaved lot charging 30 cents a day at 25th and E streets grew into an operation that now parks more than 50,000 vehicles a day throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Born in Old Forge, Pa., Gambal served in the army during World War II and graduated from GW’s School of Business. He also attended GW’s Law School.

Ernest Iseminger Named Senior Associate Vice President for Development

On Sept. 2, Ernest B. Iseminger joined GW as senior associate vice president for develop¬ment in the Division of Development and Alumni Relations.

“It is with great pleasure that we welcome to GW a proven leader in building a dynamic fundraising environment to support University programs and initiatives,” says Laurel Price Jones, vice president for development and alumni relations. “President Steven Knapp and I look forward to working with Ernie to continue to cultivate a culture of philanthropy at GW that will further assist our students and advance our research agenda and new academic initiatives.”
Iseminger has 18 years of experience in development and higher education. He comes to GW from Oberlin College—one of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges—where, since 2003, he served as vice president of development and alumni affairs. In that position, he was responsible for managing a staff of 45 fundraising professionals and overseeing Oberlin’s successful capital campaign to raise $175 million in private support. He had been at Oberlin in various fundraising capacities since 1998. Previously, he worked at Washington State University, where he graduated with a B.A. in education in 1991.

“GW’s reputation as a premier institution of higher education is on the rise, and I am excited about the opportunity to come to Washington, D.C., and be part of the University’s success,” says Iseminger. “President Knapp has made it a top priority to significantly raise the level of private support at GW to take the University to the next level of excellence. I am eager to help make that happen.”

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