USD IS HOME AWAY FROM HOME FOR THE BUSCH FAMILY
Kim Busch has one regret. “I really wanted to attend the University of San Diego,” she says. “I thought it would be the perfect place for me. But I grew up in St. Louis, and my parents thought if I moved to San Diego I’d never come back.”
It took a few years and a move halfway across the nation, but now Kim and her family are part of USD — in big way. Kim and Andrew Busch’s eldest son, Andy ‘17, is a School of Business alumnus. Their middle son, Will, is a senior, also majoring in business. And after serving on the parent board, Kim accepted the offer to join the university’s board of trustees.
One of the first issues that caught Busch’s attention was the fundraising success for a new School of Business facility. Or rather, the need for it.
“The university had been looking for one really big donation, a naming gift, to build a new facility,” she says. “I thought, ‘What if we focus on getting a bunch of smaller gifts to get it done?’”
Kim and Andrew Busch (pictured above, alongside their three sons) gave what she calls a “kick-starter gift” to get the ball rolling. And roll it did. The new fundraising strategy resulted in a series of similar donations, creat
ing the momentum that culminated in the naming gift from current Board of Trustees chair Don Knauss and his wife, Ellie.
“We had to have this,” she says of the new School of Business facility. “A top-flight business school is good for everyone associated with USD, whatever their major. It’s something we can all be proud of.”
In addition to very generous donations of talent and treasure, Kim and Andy also give USD the gift of time, hosting summer send-offs for incoming Toreros from the Santa Barbara area.
“There is a lot to love about USD,” she says, “and the people who make up the USD community are at the top of the list.” — Timothy McKernan
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