Taubman College of Architecture

Controversy still surrounds Taubman building names

Taubman College of Architecture, courtesy Taubman College

by Lucy Turrini

When walking through Michigan’s campus it’s extremely common to see buildings with the name Taubman. The Taubman Healthcare Center, the Taubman Health Sciences Library, the Taubman Biomedical Research Building, and the Taubman College of Architecture, which are all named for Adolph Alfred Taubman. However, despite the many buildings that are emblazoned with his name, many students do not know who Taubman is, or why he has so many buildings named after him.

Taubman's life seemingly resembled the American dream, born to immigrant parents, he worked and built his way to extreme wealth from humble beginnings. Taubman worked and studied architecture at the University of Michigan and Lawrence Technological University. However, he dropped out before he could earn a degree from either school (Berman). Without much to his name Taubman began to gradually build his shopping center empire. He started with small stores and eventually graduated to full-scale malls, owning over twenty at one point, including the Briarwood Mall, which is only ten minutes away from campus. Along with his malls, Taubman also made many other purchases and deals with massive brands like Mobil Oil, A&W, and Sotheby’s that helped put him on the map as one of the most successful businessmen of his time (McFadden).

The first building named after Taubman was the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. According to the Taubman College website, this college began as the College of Architecture and Urban Planning and was established in 1939. It was named this until 1999, when Taubman gifted the school thirty million dollars, one of the biggest gifts in university history at the time. As a result of his donation, the university renamed the school in his honor. In 2015, he donated another $12.5 million to the college, which was used to construct a brand new wing that also shares his name. Throughout his life Taubman’s gifts to the university totaled over $150 million dollars (Geva).

His first name Adolph, means noble wolf and his middle name, Alfred means wise counsel, according to Nameberry.com. Taubman lives up to these names, as he was known as a ferocious and intelligent businessman worth over three billion dollars at his death (Forbes).

The last name Taubman is an Americanized form of German and Jewish last names Taubmann, Taube ("pigeon dove", from the Yiddish name Toybe, also meaning dove), Taub (deaf), and Tubman (meaning a person who made tubs), according to Ancestry.com.

A. Alfred Taubman, courtesy Taubman College

Although Taubman represented honest business, hard work, and philanthropy, his business was allegedly not as upstanding. In 2001, he was convicted of a price-fixing scheme with Christie's International, the rival of his auction house, Sotheby’s (McFadden). Although he maintained his innocence regarding the matter, the court determined he had colluded with Sir Anthony Tennant, the chairman of Christie’s, and violated antitrust laws (Department of Justice). Taubman was then sentenced to a year in prison and fined $7.5 million dollars (McFadden).

Even after the scandal reached the general public, the university declared his name would continue to stay on the buildings. Lee Bollinger, the president of the university at this time, stated “he has given us much and we’ll continue to honor these contributions” (Sprow). However, keeping Taubman's name on the building goes against the criteria that the university considers when naming a building, student reporters for The Michigan Daily have argued. “It has to be consistent with our purposes, our functions, our values,” they said in a 2002 piece (The Michigan Daily Staff). This makes some students question why the university still honors the name of a person convicted of a major crime when there are countless other individuals who have contributed to making the university what we know and love today, though aren't multi-million dollar donors.

Works Cited

“A. Alfred Taubman” https://taubmancollege.umich.edu/about/alfred-taubman

McFadden, Robert D. “A. Alfred Taubman, 91, Dies; Developer, Sotheby’s Owner and Focus of Scandal”. New York Times, April 18, 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/19/business/a-alfred-taubman-shopping-mall-tycoon-inv

olved-in-price-fixing-scandal-dies-at-91.html

“Alfred” https://nameberry.com/babyname/alfred

“Adolph” https://nameberry.com/babyname/adolph

The Michigan Daily Staff. “Taubman’s felonious legacy”. The Michigan Daily, April 29, 2002.

https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/taubmans-felonious-legacy/

Sprow, Maria. “Taubman sentenced to a year in prison, $7. 5 million fine”. The Michigan Daily, April 22, 2002.

https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/taubman-sentenced-year-prison-7-5-million-fine/

Sprow, Maria, “Taubman convicted, could get jail time”. The Michigan Daily, December 6, 2001

https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/taubman-convicted-could-get-jail-time/

Berman, Avis. Oral history interview with A. Alfred Taubman, Smithsonian Archives of American Art, June 6-July 13th, 2013

https://www.aaa.si.edu/download_pdf_transcript/ajax?record_id=edanmdm-AAADCD_oh_398168

Geva, Shoham, “Major University donor A. Alfred Taubman passes away”

https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/major-university-donor-alfred-taubman-passes-away/

“Alfred Taubman.” Forbes https://www.forbes.com/profile/alfred-taubman/?sh=1ff89d285e91

“FORMER CHAIRMEN OF SOTHEBY'S AND CHRISTIE'S AUCTION HOUSES INDICTED IN INTERNATIONAL PRICE-FIXING CONSPIRACY”, United States Department of Justice

https://www.justice.gov/archive/atr/public/press_releases/2001/8128.htm

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