Cynthia Hammersley, MBA '89, Makes $2M Scholarship Gift

“I paid for college 100 percent on my own, which was challenging,” said Hammersley, who has spent more than four decades as a successful sales and marketing professional. “This is precisely why I wanted to make a donation to scholarships at Ross: to lessen the struggle for others.” 

With that aspiration in mind, Hammersley recently bequeathed approximately $2 million to Michigan Ross to establish the Cynthia C. Hammersley Female Business Leaders Scholarship. Funding from the scholarship will provide support for women already admitted as Ross graduate students and awarded with financial packages. 

“I hope to help level the playing field for women to achieve the highest levels of success in their business careers,” said Hammersley, who recently launched an online sales and marketing learning platform called the G.O.A.T Selling Academy. (The acronym stands for “Greatest of All Time.) “I also call upon scholarship recipients to pay it forward in their own careers by continuing to promote the role of women in the business world.” 

This generous gift will support Foundations for Success, an ambitious fundraising initiative to raise $200 million for student scholarships and learning experiences at Ross. It will also count toward  Women Mean Business, which aims to raise $50 million in gifts of $1 million or more from Ross alumnae and friends.