Brad E. Hollinger
Stock Trading Room

A state-of-the-art stock trading room was officially named and dedicated in January, 2016 in honor of the generosity of benefactor Brad Hollinger '76.  The stock trading room enables student to get hands-on experience in investment management.

The Brad E. Hollinger Stock Trading Room in the John L. Grove College of Business provides students with a distinct advantage in the job market since they will be able to use Bloomberg Terminal, a Wall Street trading platform used by investment bankers and equity traders.

“Since being established in 1971, the John L. Grove College of Business has had a great reputation for producing graduates who are leaders in business and industry around the world,” said Dr. Jody Harpster ’74M, president. “It has continued to meet the ever-changing needs of our students and the regional business community.”

According to Hollinger, who is the founder, chair, and CEO of Vibra Healthcare,
the trading room will allow students to experience the software and databases they need to research and manage money in real time, which will prepare them for their future careers. “This compliments the human capital you have in the outstanding faculty and will greatly enhance the quality of a business degree from Ship,” he said.

A stock trading room is a fixture at most top business schools. Grove College continually ranks among the nation’s best business colleges at both the undergraduate and graduate levels by multiple national publications.

“Although the trading room is going to be used mainly by the students in the Investment Management Program (IMP), which manages a portfolio of more than $145,000, it also will be available to other students in the college,” said Dr. John Kooti, dean of Grove College. “We are very grateful to Mr. Hollinger for his financial support so Grove College can join the few accredited business schools equipped with Bloomberg Terminals.”

The IMP is composed of senior finance majors who serve as the sole portfolio managers of real-dollar endowment fund with oversight by the SU Foundation, university finance professors, and the Finance Advisory Council. Through Frank Wisman’s relationship with the SU Foundation and then Dean of the John L. Grove College of Business, Dr. James A. Pope, seed money was provided in 1994 to start the Investment Management Program for finance majors. Students actively manage an investment portfolio, analyze holdings, and propose changes based on established objectives. Frank’s philosophy that increasing your assets through investing without having an end use of those dollars to fulfill a need in society has no value. Therefore, when the assets in the endowment reached $100,000 in 2014, in accordance with SU Foundation’s endowment management policies and spending rate, the first scholarships of $1,000 each were awarded to four academically-talented students.

The stock trading room was made possible by Hollinger’s gift to the SU Foundation’s comprehensive campaign, Charting the Course Lighting the Way comprehensive campaign for Shippensburg University.

John E. Clinton, president and CEO of the SU Foundation, said, “The stock trading room is one of the most unique and exciting accomplishments of the campaign and is a great example of how our alumni and friends have generously supported the campaign initiatives. It provides another level of learning for finance students, and that experience will help them gain an edge in a competitive job market.”