Albert O. "Ab" Nicholas (January 24, 1931 – August 4, 2016) was the chairman, CEO, and portfolio manager of Nicholas Company, Inc. founded in 1967
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Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. In April 2010, he was one of four inducted into the Wisconsin Business Hall of Fame. According to

Bloomberg Markets ''Bloomberg Markets'' is a magazine published six times a year by Bloomberg L.P. as part of Bloomberg News. Aimed at global financial professionals, ''Bloomberg Markets'' publishes articles on the people and issues related to global financial m ...

in 2015, "The Nicholas Fund, which he has run since 1969, has topped the Standard & Poor's 500 Index by an average of 2 percentage points a year for the past 40 years and

eat Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food. In biology, this is typically done to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and nutrients and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive – ...

it every year since 2008 hrough 2014

Education

Born on January 24, 1931, in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

, Nicholas earned a Bachelor's in Economics at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

and played guard for the Badgers men's basketball team. He spent two years in the military prior to returning for an M.B.A. in Finance and Investments.

Early career

Nicholas began his career at the Northwestern National Insurance Company, where he worked as an investment analyst. He moved on to Marshall and Ilsley Bank before co-founding Nicholas Company.

Affiliations

He was a member of the Milwaukee Investment Analysts Society, and a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Charitable work

In March 2015, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee announced "that it has received a $2 million donation from longtime donor and trustee Albert "Ab" Nicholas to fund and develop a recreational basketball league within its clubs." Together with his brothers, William and Daniel, he donated $2,150,000 in 2006 toward a conservatory project in his hometown, Rockford, Ill. The project is now named the Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens, in honor of their parents, William and Ruby Nicholas. He also made significant contributions to the Milwaukee War Memorial Center as well as the University of Wisconsin. The donation of $50 million was made "to inspire other donors to create undergraduate and athletic scholarships and graduate fellowships for UW-Madison students. The gift will match, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, other donations made to support scholarship programs. The UW Foundation describes the Nicholas' donation as'the second-largest household gift in the university's history.'", Another contribution to the school endowed a deanship for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Business School which had previously been paid with university funds. Nicholas died on August 4, 2016, at the age of 85. On January 12, 2017, the UW athletic department announced that the Kohl Center basketball floor would be renamed the "Ab Nicholas Court" in his honor with the start of the 2017–18 season.

References

External links

Money manager Ab Nicholas launching $50 million scholarship program
for details on Basketball scholarship
Sometimes confused with the securities finance firm A. B. Nicholas, though the two are completely separate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Albert 1931 births 2016 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American chief executives of financial services companies Philanthropists from Illinois Milwaukee Hawks draft picks People from Rockford, Illinois Wisconsin School of Business alumni Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball players American men's basketball players CFA charterholders 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American sportsmen