The ExxonMobil Corporation recently donated about $1 million to the University–more money than it donated to any other academic institution in the past year.
Earlier this summer company officials, including Senior Vice President Ed Galante, presented Chancellor Mark Emmert and University President William Jenkins with a check for almost $700,000. The amount triples the contributions ExxonMobil employees and retirees made to the University in the past year.
Bill Carpenter, ExxonMobil contributions administration coordinator, said the donation is part of the company’s philanthropy program emphasizing its commitment to education.
“Our employees donate funds to a university and we match those funds three to one,” Carpenter said.
Because ExxonMobil employs so many LSU graduates, the University always is among the top 5 institutions that receive funding, Carpenter said. This year, the University ranked first.
Most of the money the company donated will be disbursed according to the requests of those employees or retirees who contributed the initial amount, said Jeff Hale, the LSU Foundation representative handling these accounts.
Hale said ExxonMobil’s gifts stem from the most generous matching program in the world.
The company’s program has donated more than $266 million since 1962 to higher education in the United States and donated $22.4 million of that amount this year.
However, Hale said the company’s generosity toward the University does not surprise him.
“ExxonMobil and LSU have enjoyed a tremendously mutually beneficial relationship,” Hale said. “They hire a lot of our students, give back to the community and certainly do a lot for the University.”
In addition, ExxonMobil pledged $250,000 specifically for scholarships within the College of Engineering.
Tammy Abshire, College of Engineering associate director, said the college intends to use the scholarship money to attract a diverse group of academically talented students to LSU and engineering.
Though ExxonMobil often supports the college in a variety of ways including grants or unrestricted scholarships, Abshire said this is a unique gift to the college.
The company gave another $150,000 donation to the LSU Geology Field Camp.
The 1,500-acre camp on the edge of the Colorado mountain range gives geology undergraduates experience in the field.
Brooks Elwood, a geology and geophysics professor, said ExxonMobil will give the donation in three installments. This year the camp will use the money to purchase a new 12 or 15-passenger van to shuttle campers around the camp. The remainder of the money will be used for other camp activities or scholarships.
Elwood said while the donation will help make improvements to the camp, it also benefits those working toward a geology bachelor’s degree.
“It is important that geologists understand the rocks and their setting and how all of the stuff you learn during your classroom experience comes together in real world,” Elwood said.