BB&T Creates Visiting Professorship In
Business Leadership And Ethics At
Western Kentucky University
September 11, 2003
Bowling Green, Ky. - A $250,000 gift from BB&T will be used to create a Visiting Professorship in Business Leadership and Ethics at Western Kentucky University. The gift will be matched by $250,000 from the Commonwealth of Kentucky's Regional University Excellence Trust Fund to create a total professorship fund of $500,000.
"This gift will enable the Gordon Ford College of Business and WKU to provide annual programs in business leadership and ethics for students, faculty and members of the business community," said WKU President Gary Ransdell. "The programs provided through this gift will enable us to prepare competent graduates and leaders with high ethical standards who seek to create new or expand existing business organizations and bring new ideas for business development to Kentucky.
"This endowment will allow us to enhance the encouragement of personal character and professional leadership with integrity, and to foster entrepreneurship and leadership among business graduates and faculty," Dr. Ransdell said.
Tom Hiles, WKU's vice president for Institutional Advancement, said: "We are extremely grateful that BB&T has chosen to support Western in such a generous way. This gift, coupled with the earlier gift from the Humana Foundation, builds a strong foundation for incorporating ethical leadership in our business curriculum."
Hiles added that he is particularly pleased that John Allison, chairman and CEO of BB&T, has agreed to speak to WKU students and faculty while serving a one-day appointment as a Hays Watkins Visiting CEO Professor.
"BB&T's business philosophy and Mr. Allison personally are role models in the practice of ethical leadership," he said.
"The foundation for our value system at BB&T is making objective decisions based on reality, which requires an unwavering commitment to ethical behavior at all times," Allison said. "We do not allow ourselves to evade uncomfortable facts, and we force ourselves to stay focused on what is so, and not what we wish were so. Because we firmly believe in this philosophy, we are committed to helping great schools like Western Kentucky University teach the important role of ethical leadership in today's business world."
Rick Wilson, BB&T area executive, said this gift is an example of BB&T's strong commitment to the communities in which it does business. "We are very pleased to further the tremendous educational opportunities offered by Western Kentucky University," he said.
For more information, contact Tom Hiles at (270) 745-6208. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
