Dean Dayle Smith Establishes Seven-Figure Gift for LMU College of Business Administration

For Dayle Smith, Ph.D., dean of LMU College of Business Administration (CBA), making a planned gift is an expression of hope — a statement of confidence in the younger generations who will carry a legacy far into the future.

In CBA’s centennial, Dean Smith and her husband, Art Bell, Ph.D., have established a seven-figure planned gift to the College where she has spent the most rewarding years of her career. “LMU’s commitment to social justice, human dignity, and societal impact aligns with my deepest values,” she reflected.

As part of their estate planning, the couple considered how higher education had fundamentally changed the trajectory of their personal and professional lives. While they remain deeply grateful to their alma maters, Harvard and USC, they ultimately realized that LMU was where their philanthropy would have the most impact.

Throughout her tenure, Dean Smith has witnessed how philanthropy has expanded what CBA is able to offer. Donor support has enabled innovative academic programs, expanded scholarships, strengthened global immersion opportunities and paid internships, advanced faculty research, and led to the founding of centers and facilities such as the Institute for Business Ethics and Sustainability, the Fred Kiesner Center for Entrepreneurship, and the Bloomberg Finance Learning Lab. Her planned gift reflects those same priorities, supporting the student experience, mission-driven initiatives, and discretionary funding that will allow future deans to respond to changing needs.

The couple worked with the LMU Advancement team to develop a giving strategy that could maximize the impact of their philanthropy and ensure ongoing stewardship of their estate. “The process was thoughtful, creative, and empowering,” Dean Smith said. “We realized that with careful planning, we could accomplish far more than we had originally imagined for our family and for the university we care so deeply about.

“If our planned gift helps inspire opportunity and extend the impact of the College’s mission for even a few of those future generations, then it will have achieved exactly what we envisioned,” Smith said.

Like Dean Smith and her husband, you can create a legacy gift to lead us into the next 100 years. Contact Bonnie Harris Hayden, Esq., executive director of development, gift planning, at bonnie.hayden@lmu.edu or 310.770.4565 to learn more.