SouthTrust Gift Sends Campaign for UAB Over the Top

A $500,000 gift from SouthTrust Corp. to complete funding for an endowed chair in the School of Business has pushed the Campaign for UAB past its expanded fund-raising goal of $350 million. In 1999, UAB announced the most ambitious goal by an Alabama university of $250 million and then raised it to its current level a year later.

April 11, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A $500,000 gift from SouthTrust Corp. to complete funding for an endowed chair in the School of Business has pushed the Campaign for UAB past its expanded fund-raising goal of $350 million. In 1999, UAB announced the most ambitious goal by an Alabama university of $250 million and then raised it to its current level a year later.

“We were pleased to be among the first to contribute $1 million to the Campaign for UAB in its early days, and to now be able to help surpass the goal,” said SouthTrust chairman Wallace Malone. “We believe in UAB’s future and we want to support this university that has meant so much to this area.”

“We are most grateful to SouthTrust for this generous gift,” said UAB President Carol Z. Garrison. “The support we have received throughout the Campaign for UAB demonstrates that people everywhere recognize the important and leading role this university plays in helping to move our city and state forward. Continuing that momentum will be very important to UAB’s future success.”

Garrison added that, despite the financial goal being realized, there remain many unmet needs and new needs which have emerged since the campaign began, including securing private support for the new UAB Hospital, now under construction. She said that concerted efforts to grow private giving will not be slowed by the campaign’s official deadline at the end of 2003.

“UAB’s vision is to be an internationally recognized university—a first choice for education and health care. We can only achieve that vision with substantial, ongoing support from a broad base of private sources,” she said.

Julian Banton, SouthTrust CEO and co-chair of the Campaign for UAB, said that, during the past four years, “we have told the community the exciting story that is UAB, and how important it is for them to support this great asset. People have responded most generously, and we are very grateful.”

UAB’s comprehensive campaign has four areas of focus:

  • Endowed Scholarships and Fellowships — Recruiting the best and brightest students to undergraduate, graduate and professional programs is a hallmark of high-quality institutions. The availability of scholarships and fellowships is key to attracting these students to UAB.
  • Endowed Professorships and Chairs — Chairs and professorships are important to recruiting and retaining the highest quality faculty.
  • Buildings and Equipment — Private support for construction and equipment is especially important because Alabama is one of the few states in the nation with no annual capital budget for its colleges and universities.
  • Program Enhancement and Endowment Funds — Less than 20 percent of UAB’s annual operating budget is derived from state appropriations. Funds to support or endow scientific research, enhance instructional program, utilize innovative technologies or support other faculty initiatives are critical to UAB’s ability to maintain a leadership role in Alabama and the Southeast.

 

In addition to the SouthTrust endowed chair, recent major gifts include $1.5 million for the Nancy R. and Eugene C. Gwaltney Family Endowed Chair in Medical Research; $900,000 in software from Mercury Interactive to the School of Business; and gifts totaling $1.2 million from various donors for an Endowed Chair in Primary Medicine.

In February, UAB announced the first $1 million in gifts for the new University Hospital--$500,000 from the hospital employees and $500,000 from the Hospital Auxiliary. The replacement facility is scheduled to open in 2004.

“The purpose of the Campaign is to support important institutional priorities that will help ensure UAB’s continued ascent as a top-quality university and academic medical center,” said Shirley Salloway-Kahn, UAB vice president for alumni, development and external affairs. “We are delighted by the generous response to the needs that we have presented to supporters from Birmingham and around the state and nation.”

As of April 1, the Campaign for UAB had 46,800 donors including more than 12,750 alumni, 3,100 faculty and staff and more than 1,100 parents of students. The remaining donors comprise foundations, corporations and other entities that recognize the vital role UAB plays in the city and state. The Campaign for UAB is led by co-chairs Banton, Mike Goodrich and Margaret Porter, and a team of more than 200 volunteers.