University of Connecticut Athletics
Thanks to alumnus Mark R. Shenkman the University of Connecticut joined the ranks of major universities nationwide with an indoor training facility that is utilized by the football program, recreational services and other varsity sports.
His $2.5 million gift, one of the largest given to the UConn Division of Athletics, built an intercollegiate, intramural and recreational facility that serves the entire UConn community. The 85,000-square-foot Mark R. Shenkman Training Center is one of the most modern facilities of its kind in the country. Construction on the facility began in the fall of 2004 and the Mark R. Shenkman Training Center opened in the summer of 2006.
Featuring a 120-yard long state-of-the-art Field Turf playing surface, an 18,000-square- foot strength and conditioning area, and state-of-the-art video capabilities, the indoor training center provides UConn’s football team with the most technologically advanced training equipment.
The Mark R. Shenkman Training Center, along with the Burton Family Football Complex, were the University’s first projects certified as meeting the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for “green” buildings. LEED designation is a process certifying that a building project meets a wide range of environmentally friendly criteria. This marked the first college or university athletics project in the nation to earn the designation.
The UConn Division of Athletics received an Environmental Leadership Award from the University of Connecticut for the work performed at the Mark R. Shenkman Training Center.
A resident of Greenwich, Conn., Shenkman graduated from the Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Wilbraham, Mass. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from UConn in 1965 followed by a master’s degree in business administration from George Washington University.
Shenkman is the founder and president of Shenkman Capital Management, Inc., a registered investment advisor with offices in New York City and Stamford, Conn. and is an Emeritus member of the University of Connecticut Foundation Board of Directors.
Shenkman was elected to the UConn School of Business Hall of Fame in 2002 and has endowed a classroom and the e-Commerce Chair for the business school.
Shenkman and his wife, Rosalind, also committed $2 million to the building of the new UConn Basketball Champions Center.
"There is a special place in my heart for the University of Connecticut," says Shenkman. "With this gift, I hope to see our football program achieve the same standard of excellence as the men's and women's basketball teams. It's also gratifying that the UConn student population as a whole will benefit from this leading edge facility."
