The Cougar Investment Fund (CIF), a large capitalization equity portfolio managed by Washington State University Carson College of Business undergraduates, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

When former WSU Professor Rick Sias launched the CIF in 2001, he envisioned business undergraduates managing $1 million to develop hands-on investment skills. Today, students in the yearlong course manage around $6.5 million. In the course, two students act as portfolio managers, organizing sector and stock reports and tracking the fund's investments. The other students become sector analysts and recommend investments with the goal of outperforming the S&P 500.

Students' learning recently benefited from the generosity of WSU alumnus James Cronrath ('71, '73), a retired WSU agricultural research technologist who passed away in 2025. Cronrath designated more than $1 million from his estate to the Carson College to create the Cronrath Endowment. Distributions from this fund will be administered as part of the CIF and will support one or more annual scholarships.

Cronrath's motivation for the gift is a bit of a mystery. He wasn't a student, alumnus, or employee of the Carson College. No one in the college is even sure how Cronrath knew about the program, but clearly, he recognized it as a worthy investment.

"The Cougar Investment Fund is foundational to the quality of our finance program," said Mario Reyes, who instructs the CIF class and chairs the Carson College Department of Finance and Management Science. "We are very grateful to Mr. Cronrath for his support and hope the example of his philanthropy helps us instill a charitable mindset in our students about supporting education."

Cronrath's gift expands students' financial investment acumen

Cronrath's investment allows students to keep managing assets while adding real-world experience through the Cronrath Fund. Each year, a panel of 12 CIF students will award scholarships to WSU juniors or seniors in good academic standing, with recipients chosen from outside the CIF class.

"Managing the Cronrath fund enables students to practice real-world investment strategies," said David Whidbee, Carson College senior associate dean for faculty affairs and research. "For 25 years, students have been selecting individual assets to include in an all-equity portfolio, but now they'll have the opportunity to think more holistically about asset allocation and incorporate more asset classes into the CIF."

As of this fall, CIF students' work will be carried out within the college's newly upgraded Bloomberg Financial Laboratory.

Bloomberg Financial Laboratory upgrade signals modernization

In 2018, support from the college's Dean's Catalyst Fund and alums Tom ('69) and Linda Nihoul ('71) created a dedicated space with Bloomberg terminal access in the Department of Finance and Management Science.

This year, Carson College Dean Debbie Compeau directed legislative funding toward one of college's modernization initiatives, "A Future-Ready Todd Hall," which entailed upgrading the lab and relocating it to a larger space on Todd's third floor. The lab now seats 30 instead of 15 and features a glass exterior with privacy technology plus screens for Bloomberg Television and stock tickers.

"This state-of-the-art facility attracts the attention of anyone walking through Todd's main doors," Whidbee said. "It is available to all WSU majors and members of the WSU community. By moving it to a more visible location, we hope more students, faculty, and staff take advantage of it as a resource."

Going forward, the college welcomes additional alumni engagement to help align CIF curriculum with the direction of the finance industry.