A new University of Colorado Boulder program will enhance undergraduate curriculum offerings in property rights at the听.
Supported by an endowment of just over $2 million and an additional $1.2 million three-year operating support agreement from CU-Boulder alumni William and Jane Reynolds, the new Hernando de Soto Capital Markets Program will explore the history and efficacy of different approaches to property rights across formal and informal global markets.
A longtime real estate entrepreneur and Boulder native, William (Bill) Reynolds and his family also gave just over $2 million to the Leeds School to establish the William W. Reynolds Endowment for the听.
"At the heart of the Hernando de Soto Program is an entrepreneurial mindset, giving students not only historical context, but also a framework for innovative thinking,鈥� said CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano. 鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to see alumni give back in a way that will deeply impact the academic experiences of students, as well as the expertise and prowess of students in their careers.鈥�
De Soto, the namesake of the new program, is a Peruvian economist. Primary to his scholarly work is the notion that when entrepreneurs lack a legal framework to record, report, license and sell property, as well as to engage in legally enforceable business contracts related to that property, they face a legal limbo depriving them of important incentives to create and share new business innovations with the world.
鈥淒e Soto鈥檚 philosophies revolve around economic empowerment,鈥� said Bill Reynolds. 鈥淯nderstanding the complexities of property rights and how to apply them will truly enable future generations to enact positive change through capitalist ideas.鈥�
Part of the de Soto program will include the Leeds School's newly redesigned World of Business course, required for first-year students, beginning this fall. Incorporating games, simulations, historical and current contexts, the redesigned course will introduce students to the problems that businesses 鈥� through economic and legal infrastructures 鈥� are positioned to address.听
The World of Business is the launch-pad course for the Leeds School鈥檚 new core curriculum focusing on cross-disciplinary, integrative and experiential foundations for first- and second-year students.
The de Soto program also will include the development of an international experience for students; a new scholarship coordinated with the Leeds School鈥檚听Center for Education on Social Responsibility; and a newly hired scholar.
Bill Reynolds helped form the CU Real Estate Center in 1992 and served as president from 1997-98. He also was the first president of the University of Colorado Real Estate Foundation. Reynolds also is passionate about CU-Boulder's听, of which he was vice chair from 2010-14 and currently serves as director emeritus of the board
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