CORAL GABLES, Fla., May 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arlene Hollo was creative from an early age, winning writing awards at Miami Beach Nautilus Junior High and Miami Beach Senior High School.
She first crossed paths with Wayne Chaplin at Nautilus. They both wound up at the University of Miami, where Hollo majored in marketing and Chaplin in accounting, later earning a law degree. They “dated on and off,” according to Hollo, and married in September 1986. Two of their children, David and Mark, eventually became double Canes.
The stage was set for a philanthropic partnership that has helped elevate the University and South Florida’s broader educational, cultural, medical, and hospitality landscapes.
Now, Arlene and Wayne Chaplin have cemented their family’s legacy at the University with a pair of gifts. One establishes the Arlene J. Chaplin Endowed Marketing Chair in the Miami Herbert Business School, and the other supports the transformation of a space in the School of Law into a state-of-the-art facility designed to simulate a real courtroom environment.
As an undergraduate, Arlene Chaplin channeled her creative spark into marketing. “I’m extremely grateful to have graduated from the business school,” she said. “I had a great, well-rounded academic experience, and it gave me a lot of confidence in who I am today.”
After graduating near the top of her class—“I was, I think, number one or two”—Arlene Chaplin worked at a prominent Miami advertising firm, where she continued to hone her skills and appreciation of the importance of marketing.
“As a marketing student, I learned about storyboards and radio and print advertising,” she said. “Today we see artificial intelligence [and] social media, and it’s important to teach these new trends and ways of marketing projects. I am honored to be part of that in the business school.”
“The Chaplins’ extraordinary vision for the future of business education mirrors our bold ambition to shape leaders for a world redefined by technology and artificial intelligence,” said Paul A. Pavlou, dean of Miami Herbert Business School. “Their unwavering commitment to innovation in fields like AI and digital media will empower Miami Herbert students to lead change with confidence and purpose.”
Like his wife, Wayne Chaplin believes strongly in working hard and giving back.
As president and chief executive officer of Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, the country’s leading distributor of beverage alcohol co-founded by his late father, Harvey Chaplin, he is deeply involved in and supportive of the South Florida community. He is a vice chair of the University’s Board of Trustees, having been a member since 2001, and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Committees (DAC) for Miami Herbert and the School of Law.
The Chaplins give generously to various causes, personally and through Southern Glazer’s. Their giving to the University has encompassed Miami Athletics, multiple areas of the Miller School of Medicine, and endowed scholarships in the School of Law and Miami Herbert, among many more. Wayne Chaplin also co-chaired two earlier fundraising campaigns for the School of Law, raising tens of millions of dollars.
Wayne Chaplin credits his experience at the University, particularly the School of Law, for strengthening his work ethic, transforming him into a confident public speaker, and inspiring him to support the new courtroom. When complete, it will be named The Chaplin Courtroom.
“I had an amazing experience in moot court,” he recalled. “Before that, I was always a very nervous speaker, but when you go to law school, you learn you have no time for that, especially when you are doing moot court. It was a game-changer for me.”
Citing the long-standing need in the School of Law for an up-to-date, authentic courtroom environment, Chaplin recalled the dean approaching him with the idea. “I thought this would be a great opportunity for us as a family to give other people the opportunity to practice in a real courtroom setting. It will be really great for our law school,” he said.
Patricia S. Abril, interim dean of the School of Law, hailed the Chaplins’ generosity. “When we put forward a vision for a new courtroom, the Chaplin family was the first to step up,” Abril said. “Their unquestionable commitment to legal education and the School of Law is inspiring. We look forward to many successful trials and community-building events around a new and innovative courtroom, which will be the core of our culture.”
In looking back at the life lessons they drew from their time at the U, both Arlene and Wayne Chaplin stressed the importance of perseverance.
“One of the things I learned at the U is that hard work and dedication pay off in the long run,” Wayne Chaplin reflected. “I knew I wasn’t the smartest person in the class, but I was one of the hardest working, and I think the attitude of ‘anything is possible’ is a really good one for people to have.”
Arlene Chaplin echoed those sentiments, recalling something former University President Donna Shalala once told her: “She always thought that while being the smartest person in the room is very valued, the hardest-working person is often the most successful.”
The University has evolved immensely since the Chaplins were undergraduates, and both Arlene and Wayne have high hopes for its second century.
“All great cities have great academic institutions, health care, and a thriving arts community,” Arlene Chaplin said. “And [for Miami,] the U is at the heart of all that, producing great future leaders for our community and beyond.”
From his vantage point as a trustee and DAC member, Wayne Chaplin expressed gratitude for the opportunities to help shape the U’s trajectory and bold ambitions for the institution’s future.
“We are lucky to have, for example, Bascom Palmer, the No. 1 eye hospital in the country for 23 years,” he said. “We would love to see more programs on the Medical Campus achieve high rankings, and the same for the business school and law school. And, as a Hurricane family, we’d love some more national championships for Miami Athletics.”
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Megan Ondrizek University of Miami 3052843667 m.ondrizek@umiami.edu
