NEWS

By AMY KEITH
Kenan-Flagler Business School

CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Center for Sustainable Enterprise (CSE) at Kenan-Flagler Business School has received a $100,000, three-year grant from DuPont.

Dr. Stuart Hart, management professor and co-director of CSE and a pioneer in the field of sustainable enterprise, said, "We are very grateful for DuPont’s generosity. The gift provides critical support to our Center for Sustainable Enterprise. It is a sign of the company’s support for our work and an indication of their desire to support us further in the future."

The Center for Sustainable Enterprise, part of the business school’s Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, is an acknowledged world leader in teaching, research and outreach designed to equip current and future business leaders with the broad vision and knowledge to effectively champion sustainable development strategies within their organizations.

Sustainable enterprises use business as an instrument of social development and environmental improvement, integrating these objectives proactively into core business strategies. For a growing number of companies and nonprofit organizations, competitive advantage is rooted in these new sustainable capabilities, such as pollution prevention, urban reinvestment, industrial ecology, stakeholder collaboration, life-cycle management and sustainable development.

"Many major industrial companies have great value for the unique and leading-edge work at CSE," said John C. Hodgson, DuPont executive vice president. "DuPont’s objective is to become a sustainable growth company, which we define as creating shareholder value while reducing our footprint throughout the value chain. Our work with CSE is helping us have a broader, more creative understanding of market opportunities."        

DuPont is a founding member of CSE’s Base of the Pyramid Co-Laboratory. The co-laboratory is a consortium of multinational corporations, government agencies and non-governmental organizations experimenting with innovative business models that provide culturally appropriate and ecologically effective goods and services to the four billion individuals at the base of the socioeconomic pyramid. Hart also has helped DuPont conceptualize corporate goals based on the Base of the Pyramid model.

During 2002, DuPont is celebrating its 200^th year of scientific achievement and innovation. Based in Wilmington, Del., DuPont delivers science-based solutions for markets that make a difference in people’s lives in food and nutrition, health care, apparel, home and construction, electronics and transportation. Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., a subsidiary of DuPont, is the world’s leading source of customized solutions for farmers, livestock producers, and grain and oilseed processors. With headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, Pioneer provides access to advanced plant genetics, crop protection solutions and quality crop systems to customers in nearly 70 countries.

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Web links: The Bottom of the Pyramid Co-Laboratory: http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/news/KFmag_spring02/hart.html
Center for Sustainable Enterprise: http://www.kenaninstitute.unc.edu/Centers/CSE/cse.cfm
Dupont: www.dupont.com

Kenan-Flagler contacts: Stuart Hart, co-director of the Center for Sustainable Enterprise, (919) 962-8405; slhart@unc.edu
Amy Keith, alumni and development writer, (919) 962-3111; amy_keith@unc.edu
Dupont contact: Kelli Kukura, manager, U.S. Field Public Affairs Team, (302) 774-5127; kelli.h.kukura@usa.dupont.com