BB&T gives $500,000 to Georgia Southern

BB&T Vice President and City Executive for Statesboro Jimmy Hodges presents a check for $500,000 to Georgia Southern President Bruce Grube. Also pictured (l) Billy Griffis, president of the Georgia Southern University Foundation, and (r) Ronald Shiffler, dean of the College of Business Administration.

Corporation to establish an endowed faculty position in the College of Business Administration.

   Jimmy Hodges, senior vice president and city executive for the Statesboro market area of BB&T, presented University President Bruce Grube with a check and a pledge from BB&T to advance the partnership between the company and the university.

   The funds will be used to create the BB&T Chair of Banking – an honorary faculty title that will attract premier candidates for the position and bring prestige to the business school’s academic program in finance.

   “We are pleased to provide this gift to Georgia Southern to symbolize our commitment to the region and to the university. The BB&T Chair of Banking is an investment in higher education that will yield graduates who are better prepared for a career in banking,” said Hodges.

In accepting the check, President Grube said: “This gift directly addresses the central theme of our strategic plan – academic distinction. The magnitude of the contribution and the positive corporate reputation of BB&T enhance the credibility of our finance program. We now have a platform from which to move this program to the next level of distinction.”
Georgia Southern’s College of Business Administration offers an undergraduate degree in finance with a concentration in banking. Graduates typically secure employment in the financial services industry, including many alumni who entered BB&T’s Management Development program and now hold permanent positions in the company.

   Complementing the College’s finance program is the Center for Banking Excellence, which provides programming and applied research for regional bankers. Hodges led the effort in the early 1990s to form a coalition of regional banks to establish the Center. The holder of the BB&T Chair will be expected to expand the outreach of the Center.

   As part of the plan for distinction, Dean Ronald E. Shiffler said that the BB&T Chair of Banking will be expected to interact with the regional banking community to establish internships and placement for students, conduct research related to the financial services industry, and teach upper level banking courses.

   The State of Georgia has a program called the Eminent Scholars Program that matches major contributions from private sources for endowed chairs. As the legislature funds this program, the Eminent Scholars Program will enable the BB&T Chair to reach the $1 million dollar level.

   BB&T Corporation, headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., is a fast growing, highly profitable financial holding company with more than $90 billion in assets. Its bank subsidiaries operate more than 1,400 branch offices in the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia, Maryland, Tennessee, Alabama, Indiana, Florida and Washington, D.C.

   Georgia Southern University, a member of the University System of Georgia, is the largest and most comprehensive center of higher education in the southern half of Georgia. A residential university serving over 15,000 students, Georgia Southern’s hallmark is a superior undergraduate experience emphasizing academic distinction, excellent teaching, and student success. The College of Business Administration, which is fully accredited by AACSB, International, offers an undergraduate business degree with eight different majors and three graduate degrees, including the MBA, Master of Accountancy, and WebMBA degrees.

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