Gift From BB&T Will Provide Leadership At WKU

September 04, 2007

Bowling Green, Ky. - A $1 million commitment from BB&T Corporation will allow Western Kentucky University to be a leader in the area of moral capitalism. 
           
According to WKU President Gary Ransdell, this leadership gift will create the BB&T Professorship in Economics for the Study of Capitalism.  “As a result of this generous gift, the Gordon Ford College of Business will be able to appoint a respected scholar to lead this new initiative.  The professorship will foster the internationalization of our business curriculum and will complement other initiatives in the College, particularly those related to entrepreneurship,” Dr. Ransdell said. “We are grateful that BB&T has chosen to create this important program at WKU.”
           
Dr. William Tallon, dean of the Gordon Ford College of Business, said BB&T’s support will create an established curriculum at WKU for the study of capitalism—the first such program at WKU.  It will allow the Gordon Ford College of Business and the Department of Economics to provide leadership in the area and deliver new courses, conduct research projects, invite guest speakers, host conferences, develop publications, and accomplish other student engagement initiatives.
             
“This gift will also provide support to create a Center of the Study of the Ethical Foundations of Capitalism and its relationship to national and global issues,” Dr. Tallon said.  “Through BB&T’s leadership, the intellectual diversity of the University will be enhanced through the sponsorship of visits from leading scholars, researchers, and observers of market systems, allowing students to learn more about their importance to the issues of the day.”
           
“We believe there needs to be a deeper understanding of the morality of capitalism and its causal relationship to economic well-being,” said BB&T Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Allison. “This contribution will encourage business graduates who enter the workplace to have a firm grasp of the moral principles underlying the free markets, a better understanding of our economy, and an enhanced ability to make meaningful contributions to the world.”
           
WKU will be one of 25 universities to receive similar funding from BB&T.  The BB&T Professorship in Economics for the Study of Capitalism, along with the new Center, will position the Gordon Ford College and WKU within an elite set of universities dedicated to the study, research, and teachings related to the moral foundations of capitalism. 
           
“Although most business schools address capitalism in a perfunctory manner in basic economics courses, very few strive to incorporate these concepts in advanced business courses and nourish the understanding of their impact on competitive advantage and the economic well-being of society in general,” Dr. Tallon said.  “Such an approach will make the Gordon Ford College and WKU leaders among their peers, both nationally and internationally, by promoting and advancing the philosophy, as well as the mechanics, of capitalism and its role in economic success locally, nationally, and internationally.”
           
Dr. Tallon added that the gift “will provide significant learning opportunities for the WKU community of students and scholars. We are most grateful to BB&T for this important contribution to the education and intellectual development of our students and the resulting positive impact it will have on our economy.”       

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Contact Tom Hiles, (270) 745-6208, or William Tallon, (270) 745-6311.