GRAND FORKS (AP) - A Jamestown native and retired venture capitalist has given $200,000 to the University of North Dakota so students can test their investment skills.

"I'm a firm believer that experience teaches more than almost any other form of learning," said Bart Holaday. "The closer one can get to real-world experience, the more you can learn."

Holaday and his wife, Lynn, have committed $1 million to the program over five years, said Bruce Gjovig, director of the University of North Dakota Center for Innovation. All money generated by the investments will be put back in the fund, which should be self-sustaining after five years, he said.

Gjovig said students will manage the venture fund and invest in startup student businesses and regional businesses.

The Dakota Foundation is a nonprofit organization Holaday founded in 1997 to focus his philanthropic efforts on entrepreneurship in his native North Dakota and in New Mexico, where he lives.

Holaday spent most of his career working in the venture capital field in Chicago. When he retired in 2001, he was managing director of private market groups for UBS Asset Management, and oversaw over $19 billion in venture capital and other private investments.

Holaday said he hopes the venture fund will inspire students to start their own businesses or pursue careers in venture capitalism.

"I hope they'll get excited about creating businesses and the process they go through in creating a business," Holaday said. "Part of that is financing, but more important is the creative spirit that starts a business. The two have to work hand in hand for a successful business to develop."