To Help Other People at All Times
Bill Godfrey was 15 when his father died, forcing the boy scout from Fish Lake, Indiana to work full-time after school to help support the family. College wasn't even a blip on his radar. However, Bill kept up his grades and earned a prestigious "Resident Scholarship" to attend IU Bloomington.
At IU, he thrived as a student. While carrying a full class load, Bill started not one, but several businesses to make ends meet. Amazed that he could pursue his passion for business and receive college credit, Bill soon found an inspirational mentor in IU Business School Professor Tom Bossort. From the beginning, Bossort saw something special in Bill, which he described as a "divine dissatisfaction." He told his student, "No matter where you are or what you are doing, you're not going to be happy unless you have a chance to try to make it better."
When asked what has made him so successful, Bill points to three characteristics: a good mind, the ability to out-work anybody he has ever known, and that "divine dissatisfaction." But he is absolutely clear that he would have none of it without his education. "Everything I have is because of IU," he insists, "and I promised myself a long time ago that I would repay the University 20 times over for what it has given me."
He has certainly done that. Bill Godfrey's $25 million bequest to the Kelley School of Business "will establish a scholarship endowment fund for more than 100 students each year," says IU President Adam W. Herbert. It will support "students of exceptional promise and ability who, like Bill, could not otherwise afford a college education."
The gift also funds the school's William J. Godfrey Graduate and Executive Education Center. Bill originally opposed naming the Center after him. But he changed his mind when IU Foundation President Curt Simic suggested that it might inspire others to give more generously. "I thought about that for a while," says Bill, "and decided I could put up with celebrity status for a day or two if it really helps the University raise more money."
Humility, hard work, brains, and courage: Bill Godfrey has them all. But what makes him truly exceptional is his concern for others. As Kelley School Dean Dan Smith observes, "If you want to set yourself apart from everybody else in the workforce, get it through your head that it's not about you. If you give of yourself to others, it is rare that it doesn't come back to you 10 times over. You don't do it with that expectation, because then it's not sincere. You check your ego at the door and try sincerely to do the right thing. Just like Bill Godfrey."
