Investing in Education

Reed and Christine Halladay, donors to an endowed faculty position and executive lecture series program in the School of Business 

As a successful investor and managing director of Bel Aire Investment Advisors in California, Reed Halladay saw the value an investment in education.

If there is one thing that makes a difference in helping people to change their view of the world, it’s education, said Reed. I think it helps them to be more tolerant, to be better fathers and mothers, to be better citizens and to make a better contribution to the world.

Reed’s vision is shared with his wife, Christine. When a person gets an education, it lifts him out of the grind of everyday life and gives him a spark of something that can make the rest of his descendants lives better, she said. No matter what they study, education creates a whole different way that we look at life and a desire to contribute to society for generations to come.

Education has been the passport Reed has used on his way to success. He learned the value of hard work at a young age helping on his family’s chicken farm in Provo. His mother encouraged Reed to finish his education and pursue an MBA. He followed her advice, finished his master’s degree at BYU and joined the prestigious investment banking firm, Goldman, Sachs and Co. in Los Angeles.

As a mother of four, Christine also encouraged her children to make a college education a priority. Growing up with parents who were both teachers, it felt very natural for Christine to become a teacher herself. She taught dance at Orem High School for seven years after completing her degree at BYU. Today all of the Halladay’s four children have attended college, including two who have studied at UVSC.

At the end of 1997, Reed and other colleagues left Goldman to start their own company, Bel Aire Investment Advisors. The firm concentrates on high-net-worth clients, managing 4 billion dollars with over 30 employees.

As busy as his business keeps him, when Reed was asked two years ago to serve on the new UVSC School of Business Advisory Board he was excited to be involved.

Having been raised in Provo, I was familiar with UVSC when it was the Trade Tech, but that has really changed, said Reed. The school has evolved so much since then and you can feel that energy.

To add to that energy and vision, Reed and Christine wanted to find a way that they could help the students and UVSC. While at BYU, Reed had enjoyed attending the executive lecture series where people from outside the school with real experience would come and share their wisdom with the students.

As with all charitable remainder trusts established at UVSC, the Gadds enjoyed the choice they were given of where the charitable contribution remaining should be put after they are gone. They chose to support the College’s academic programs that result in a practical vocation or education where students can readily be employed.

I think there’s a lot of interest in actually talking to people who have been successful in making a major contribution and real difference in their industry, said Reed. Not only can they hear from someone who has been out there about what works and what doesn’t, but more importantly, it shows the kids that there’s more than one way to do it.

The Reed and Christine Halladay Executive Lecture Series began in the Spring of 2000 and has since welcomed such prestigious speakers as Larry H. Miller of Larry H. Miller Group; Jerry Atkin, president of SkyWest Airlines; and Mary Anne Graf, president of Health Care Innovations.

The Halladays also established an endowed professorship, awarded to Dr. Janice Gygi of the School of Business, to supervise and coordinate the executive lecture series twice a month.

The professorship supplements the income of a professor for his or her time to organize the executive lecture series, said Reed.

Not only is education a worthy investment, but the opportunities at UVSC are many.

I see UVSC as venture capital at an early stage, said Reed. As programs are still being developed and the College is still articulating its vision, people who have the means and the time can take advantage of this very critical junction and make a real significant contribution to UVSC’s future.

Printed in the UVSC Annual Report 2000-2001