You could hop on the Internet right now and find hundreds of inspirational quotes on the importance and power of education. That’s easy. The hard part is putting those mantras into practice.
Rance Sanders ’80, JD ’83, knows. The president and CEO of The Sanders Trust in Birmingham admits he wasn’t the best student. That changed when he got to The University of Alabama and the Culverhouse College of Business.
“The most important aspect of what I got at being at the University was learning discipline and preparation, work ethic, and going to class when you don’t want to go to class. I never missed a class, and I was always prepared,” he said.
He did so well that when his report card with all A’s got sent to his parents in Birmingham, his mother was, “flabbergasted.”
Learning that discipline and work ethic stayed with Sanders throughout his professional career, and it served him well. Sanders is a fixture in the Birmingham real estate community and a pioneer in the national healthcare real estate industry since 1989.
Sanders wants future business students to benefit from an Alabama education the way he did. It’s why he and his wife Angie ’80 made an unrestricted gift of $5 million to name the Rance M. Sanders Real Estate Program.
“I want to give students two things. One is access to get a good education… and number two, we want them to get the very best professors and have the best experience, and for it to be a hands-on experience within the real estate program.”
This gift will aid in student participation in case competitions, student engagement through the Live, Work, Play initiative, student attendance at real estate conferences, hiring a full-time real estate program coordinator, funding for marketing and communications, and scholarships for real estate students.
“Learning about real estate at UA was terrific, and it gave me a lot of the fundamentals to build a foundation to go from there to start a real estate company,” Sanders said.
“But the program now is light years ahead of where it has been, and the attention that it’s gotten under the leadership of Dean Kay Palan, Alan Tidwell, and Laura Razzolini, is terrific. They’re ready and they’re poised, but it does take some money to accomplish a lot of what they want to do. I’ve reviewed the curriculum, and I think it’s perfect.”
Sanders flirted with the idea of going to Ole Miss, but his loyalty to Alabama won out. He was a student during the Crimson Tide’s back-to-back national titles in 1978-79, which included the famous goal-line stand in the Sugar Bowl in 1979 against Penn State.
“We were sitting at that goal line, which didn’t mean we had good tickets. But we were there for that moment,” Sanders said. “Then we attended the next year against Arkansas (in the 1980 Sugar Bowl).”
Alabama football played a big part in Sanders’ business future. His roommate at Alabama was Bart Starr Jr., son of the former Crimson Tide and Green Bay Packers legend. Sanders was a big Bart Starr fan—he even wrote a book report on him in the fourth grade. Sanders and Bart Jr. became good friends and eventually, so did Sanders and Bart Sr.
Their strong relationship continued after Sanders graduated from law school and in 1989, he invited Bart Sr. to be a business partner in Starr Sanders Properties. The business also included Bart Jr., and Sanders’ father, E. Leon Sanders. The company’s focus was to develop and manage medical properties.
Nearly 10 years later, Sanders formed The Sanders Trust, one of the nation’s leading medical real estate investment companies. After 40-plus years in business, Sanders isn’t slowing down. He wakes up at 4:30 every morning, gets in a light workout, has a short Bible study, reads the Wall Street Journal, and then he’s off to work. “I love it,” he said.
There is more than enough to keep Sanders busy. He’s involved with more than just The Sanders Trust. He is CEO of Sanders Capital Partners, which develops and acquires neighborhood retail centers, medical, and light industrial properties throughout the country. He and Angie are also co-founders of the Sanders Family Foundation, a nonprofit whose primary purpose is to identify and support promising disadvantaged students in Alabama and Florida.
Sanders’ story is one of self-discipline, lifelong learning, and a deep desire to give back. The endowment he and Angie made to the Culverhouse Real Estate program isn’t just an investment in a curriculum — it’s a vote of confidence in the next generation.
“We just see so many students who are promising, who are capable, but are struggling financially,” Sanders said.
“To be able to give them a hand and make a difference in whether they can stay in school or not — that really means a lot.”
More than four decades since that first walk across the Quad, Sanders is still showing up early, still preparing, still building. And now, thanks to his gift, so will many others.