$5M LEAD GIFT TO ESTABLISH SCHWARTZ CENTER FOR ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE

CORAL GABLES, Fla – The University of Miami today announced a donation of $5 million from the Ted & Todd Schwartz Family Foundation as the lead gift in the campaign for the Center for Athletic Excellence. The gift will create the Theodore G. Schwartz and Todd G. Schwartz Center for Athletic Excellence, which will provide state-of-the-art resources for the over 400 enrolled student-athletes to achieve their personal, educational and athletic goals. The expanded home for UM athleticswill include a student-athlete academic center, sports medicine facility, football locker room and gallery of champions.

“Ted & Todd Schwartz’s gift ensures our future ability to sustain athletic excellence in this age of continued facility growth and enhancement throughout the college athletics landscape,” said Kirby Hocutt, UM’s Director of Athletics. “Our mission is to be the best in the country and the Schwartz commitment has furthered our ability to remain at the top of the college athletics world. This transformational donation provides the momentum to ensure that the Center For Athletic Excellence becomes a reality.”

“The generosity of the Schwartz Family will sustain the University of Miami in its spot among the top premier athletics programs in the nation by expanding and renovating the resources and facilities we offer to current and future student-athletes,” said UM President Donna E. Shalala.

Click here for the Center of Athletic Excellence Web page

“Ted” Schwartz, a resident of Aventura, FL is founder and chairman of the board of directors of APAC Customer Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: APAC) based in Bannockburn, IL, which provides customer call center and business process services and solutions to the healthcare, communications, business, financial, travel and entertainment industries. In 2008, he was honored as an outstanding individual by the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, and he has been inducted into the American Teleservices Association Hall of Fame and the Call Center Solutions Hall of Fame. In addition, he was distinguished with the Pioneer Award, the University of Illinois Entrepreneur Hall of Fame Award, and the Illinois High Tech Entrepreneur Award. Ted is a member of WPO (World Presidents’ Organization) and CEO (Chief Executives Organization).

His son, Todd Schwartz, is a director of the family foundation and founder and president of Beach Coast Properties and Opportunity Financial. The Schwartz family is already part of the University of Miami family. In 1999, the family donated a transformational gift to build the M. Christine Schwartz Center for Nursing Education, now home of the UM School of Nursing and Health Studies.

The total cost of the project is expected to be $13.6 million and the Miami athletics department has already raised $10.5 million towards that goal.

The Schwartz Center, which will be an expansion and renovation of the current Hecht Athletic Center, will also feature a permanent dedicated area to the proud tradition of all Miami’s national championship teams and the football Ring of Honor.

The academic area on the second floor will include classrooms, tutor rooms, a state-of-the-art computer lab, a math and science technology lab, staff offices, a 120-seat auditorium, a learning resource room, and a study space to accommodate all student-athletes. The first floor will feature the gallery of champions, the football team locker room and a team lounge for the Hurricanes football squad.

The sports medicine facility will be renovated and expanded to more than three-times its current footprint in the existing Hecht Athletic Center. It will feature in-ground hydrotherapy pools, private examination rooms, digital imaging and extensive rehabilitation space for all of UM’s student-athletes.

“We are thrilled to be a part of the tradition of excellence and great athletic accomplishments at the University of Miami. We are also very proud of the academic standards that the U has achieved and maintained. We are confident the U’s athletic and academic performance will continue and increase with the opening of the new athletic facility,” said Ted Schwartz.

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The University of Miami’s mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of our diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. www.miami.edu