On Campus
P&G Makes Record Pledge to Tuskegee
By Lango Deen
Feb 25, 2003, 15:20

Tuskegee University's $60-million Legacy Campaign will receive a $2-million pledge from Procter & Gamble's foundation, The P&G Fund, on February 26th. P&G's largest donation on record to an historically Black college or university (HBCU) will go towards construction of an $11-million, 45,000-square foot College of Business and Information Science (CBIS) facility.

The new facility -- "state-of-the-art," Tuskegee says -- will nearly quadruple the space currently available for laboratories, classrooms, and offices in the college's Chambliss Business House, which was built in 1930. The P&G Fund's pledge also includes support for ongoing programmatic initiatives to enhance Tuskegee's curricula.

CBIS Interim Dean Alicia Jackson, Ph.D. says it is gratifying that the facility has a central place in the new Legacy Campaign, which comes on the heels of the Campaign for Tuskegee, a decade-long fund raiser that exceeded its goal of $150 million by raising more than $169 million for capital and educational improvements. Dr. Jackson says the "exceptionally equipped, technologically advanced, modern facility" will improve the college's proven track record for excellence.

The CBIS graduates approximately 100 students each year, who are heavily recruited to fill positions at leading multinational firms in sales, marketing, accounting, finance, store, plant, and hotel/restaurant management, as well as in programming and systems, Dr. Jackson says.

Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley says Tuskegee and other HBCUs have played major roles in helping his company create a workplace that represents P&G's consumer base. Lafley plans to visit the university for the first time, for the official announcement of the pledge.

Established in 1837, The Procter & Gamble Company -- which began as a small, family-operated soap and candle maker in Cincinnati, Ohio -- now has a work force of 106,000 that provides more than 250 products to five billion consumers in 130 countries. P&G invested more than $1.7 billion in research and development last year, at 19 technical centers and nearly 100 universities around the world.

Tuskegee University, established in 1881, attained university status in 1985, and since has begun offering its first doctoral programs -- in integrative biosciences and materials science and engineering -- as well as a professional degree program in veterinary medicine.

"We've been partners since 1975, helping prepare students for the world of work in the 21st century," Lafley says. "P&G is pleased to support the Tuskegee campaign."

Lango Deen can be reached at LDeen@ccgmag.com