$70 million gift from John and Carolyn Sonnentag supports university leadership transition to James C. Schmidt
Dr. James C. Schmidt, of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, recently secured a historic $70 million donation from John and Carolyn Sonnentag to fund the construction of an indoor athletics facility and event center.
This stands as one of the largest gifts in Wisconsin’s history. Schmidt’s financial leadership has also resulted in raising nearly $200 million for UW-Eau Claire since 2015.
On March 26, 2025, James Madison University announced Schmidt as its seventh president, with his tenure beginning on July 1, 2025James C. Schmidt has been named as the seventh president of James Madison University during a special announcement and meeting of the Board of Visitors at JMU’s Wilson Hall.
In his address, Schmidt said he is “absolutely thrilled to join the JMU community.”
“Today is an important day for me and my family, and I hope it becomes a great day for JMU as we map out this next step together,” Schmidt said to the audience of students, faculty and staff. “I look forward to working with you and helping to move this institution forward with your help, guidance and support, and I look forward to getting to know you all personally.”
Schmidt has over 30 years of experience working in higher education, according to a JMU release, and he has served as the chancellor of the University of Wisonson-Eau Claire since November 2013. At UW-Eau Claire, Schmidt brought in one of the largest gifts in the school’s history — $70 million for an indoor athletics facility and event center — and he said JMU’s growing culture of philanthropy would be a key emphasis in his new role.
Schmidt was selected after a year-long search to fill the position after former president Jonathan Alger left to take on the same role at American University in Washington, D.C. Charlie King stepped in as JMU’s interim president while the search process was underway.
“It is an honor to welcome Jim into the JMU community,” King said in a release. “I look forward to our partnership in the coming months as we will collectively work to ensure this transition continues to be seamless. I take great pride in this institution and will do everything I can to support the board and our new president during this transition.”
Likewise, Kay Coles James, who chaired the search committee for the university’s top job, complimented Schmidt’s strategic vision and leadership.
“Jim Schmidt’s commitment to JMU’s values, bold vision-casting, student-centered outlook, and his community-building experience will be invaluable assets to lead JMU boldly into the future,” James said in the same release.
Schmidt’s appointment begins July 1, though Suzanne Obenshain, rector of the Board of Visitors, said the new president will visit JMU’s campus again in the meantime to connect with the community.
When John and Carolyn Sonnentag met as students at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the 1960s, no one could have predicted that they would fall in love and marry. Or that the love they had for each other and the university that brought them together would one day change the face of life in northwestern Wisconsin.
The Sonnentags have committed a gift of cash and land valued at approximately $70 million for the construction of the County Materials Complex. The development, which includes the Sonnentag Event Center and the John and Carolyn Sonnentag Field House, is located on the banks of the Chippewa River in Eau Claire. The gift from the Sonnentags, one of the largest of its kind in state history, will solidify the event center that was first proposed in 2014.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine that 100% of the philanthropy for a project would come from one donor,” said Kimera Way, president of the UW-Eau Claire Foundation.
“This has been a long and winding road over the past few years, but this incredible gift will improve the quality of life for all Blugolds and it will benefit Eau Claire and northwestern Wisconsin.”
The Sonnentag Project will revitalize Eau Claire thanks to a unique public-private partnership that includes UW-Eau Claire, the UW-Eau Claire Foundation, Mayo Clinic Health System, the city of Eau Claire and Visit Eau Claire.
“Carolyn and I feel that the UW-Eau Claire and Eau Claire communities have made such a great contribution to our lives that we want to give back in whatever capacity we can,” John Sonnentag said when the couple announced it was giving 25 acres of property to Blugold Real Estate, a subsidiary of the UW-Eau Claire Foundation, in 2014. “We are very pleased to make this project happen.”
John Sonnentag graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 1966 with degrees in business administration and history. Carolyn Sonnentag graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 1967 with a degree in medical technology.
After graduating from UW-Eau Claire, John joined the family business, which at the time was named County Concrete Corp. Carolyn later joined the business and worked as a bookkeeper in the finance office. John’s father, Merlin, founded Sonnentag Concrete and Gravel in Marathon in 1946. The company offered concrete block and aggregate in the first two decades, but under John’s leadership, the company expanded its product line and began offering concrete pipe and other precast products.
The company was renamed County Materials Corp. in 2003, and though it is still headquartered in Marathon County, the company now has additional locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri and Florida.
“The generosity of the Sonnentags is simply remarkable,” James Schmidt said. “This is truly an institution-shaping gift that will have a positive impact on tens of thousands of people for decades to come.
“You would be hard-pressed to find a public university foundation of our size receiving gifts of this nature,” Way said. “It just doesn’t happen every day. We are so fortunate to have alumni like John and Carolyn Sonnentag who genuinely support the mission of UW-Eau Claire and believe in investing in our future.”