State Farm Expands Partnership with
College; Investment Supports New Classroom Space
10/19/2006
State Farm and the State Farm Companies Foundation have pledged $500,000 to
support the College’s $75 million fund-raising initiative, Investing in
Excellence. The gift, to be made over five years, will fund classroom space
in the new Business Instructional Facility.
The State Farm Companies
Foundation supports efforts of excellence in higher education throughout central
Illinois and the nation. “Our support of the University of Illinois' Business
Instructional Facility is a serious response to a workforce issue. The
Foundation is pleased to assist the U of I College of Business as it prepares
and educates our future labor force,” said Mike Fernandez, Vice President, State
Farm Corporate Communications and External Relations.
“This is a
significant investment in the College,” said Avijit Ghosh, dean of the College
of Business at the University of Illinois. “We are excited by and proud of our
partnership with State Farm. The firm’s involvement in the Insurance and Risk
Management Program and the Research Park has benefited our programs, our
students, our faculty, and the firm.”
Stephen D’Arcy, the John C. Brogan
Faculty Scholar in Risk Management and a professor of finance in the College of
Business, echoed those sentiments.
“Clearly, this partnership will
benefit both the corporate partners and the University,” he said. “In today’s
fast-changing business environment, risk managers and insurers need to have
access to quality, independent research on the major issues they face. Such
research can be essential both for making appropriate decisions and for citing
as authoritative work in regulatory and court hearings. By creating a
partnership between industry and the University, corporate partners can direct
research on the most critical issues they are facing, participate in the
research process by providing their expertise, and have initial access to the
results of the research programs.”
The State Farm gift is particularly
important to the College because it supports classroom space – a premium
commodity on campus. The new facility, scheduled to open in Fall 2008, will
provide 160,000+ square feet of space to accommodate 18 state-of-the-art
classrooms, career development and academic counseling centers, student program
offices, a recruitment suite, a 300-seat auditorium, and space for students to
meet and study.
“The facility is intended to enrich the student
experience at Illinois,” Ghosh said. “This gift directly influences the quality
of our programs. We’re delighted that State Farm is supporting this fundamental
aspect of business education.”
