NEWS

Local angle: Winston-Salem

Photo note: To download a photo of John Allison, see the end of the release.

By DEL H. HELTON

Arts and Sciences Foundation

CHAPEL HILL -- A $1 million gift from the BB&T Charitable Foundation to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s department of philosophy will encourage students to consider the role of capitalism in society from a moral perspective.

The BB&T Foundation, created by Winston-Salem-based BB&T Corp., made the grant to inspire discussion and study that merges the most ancient of philosophical theories with modern business principles. The $1 million grant is the largest single corporate gift to a humanities department at the university.

"At BB&T, we believe that ideas have a profound impact on human action. An individual’s philosophy ultimately determines how he lives his life," said John Allison IV, chairman and chief executive officer of BB&T Corp. Allison is a 1971 Carolina alumnus with a degree in business administration.

"As a business institution, we are particularly interested in the impact of ideas in the sphere of economics from the very broadest context," Allison said. "Our goal is to encourage an intellectual, objective and rational analysis of capitalism from a moral perspective."

The gift will support a visiting professor or postdoctoral fellow who is an expert in at least one of these areas: Aristotle and theories of human nature, ethics and economics, social and political philosophy, or objectivity and values. It will also provide critical funding for undergraduate and graduate research efforts in the department of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences.

"A corporate contribution of this magnitude to an academic humanities program is both visionary and rare," said Dr. Risa Palm, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "BB&T's leadership sets a stunning example for others in the business community to support liberal arts education, a crucial foundation for preparing corporate leaders for the 21st century."

Philosophy has been part of the university’s curriculum since its founding in 1795. The internationally ranked department, with 20 faculty, and more than 100 declared undergraduate majors and 50 graduate students, also attracts nearly 2,000 students each year to its classrooms.

"John Allison and BB&T are committed to the importance of philosophical principles and have built a business on that commitment," said Dr. Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, chairman of the philosophy department. "We are delighted and honored to be the beneficiaries of that commitment. Moreover, we are tremendously excited about the substantial difference a gift of this magnitude can make to the department — to the education we can offer at both the undergraduate and the graduate levels and to our research mission."

The new gift counts toward the Carolina First Campaign, a comprehensive, multi-year private fund-raising campaign to help support the vision of Carolina becoming the nation’s leading public university.

The BB&T Corp. is a financial holding company with $78.2 billion in assets. With more than 24,000 employees, BB&T’s bank subsidiaries operate more than 1,100 branch offices in 11 states and in the District of Columbia.

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Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/alum/allison_john.jpg

Arts and Sciences Foundation contact: Del H. Helton, communications director, (919)962-8216

News Services contact: Mike McFarland, (919)962-8593