| University of Florida Foundation, Inc. | |
| Christopher Brazda | 352-392-1633 |
| Public Relations | 100 NW 20th St |
| cbrazda@uff.ufl.edu | Gainesville, FL 32603 |
| For immediate release | Thursday, February 02, 2006 |
HOUGH PROGRAM IN FINANCE AT UF GROWS WITH $600K IN GIFTS
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida Hough Program in Finance continues to grow thanks to several recent major private gifts to the program totaling $600,000.
It was announced today that a $200,000 gift from Charles and Kyle Ball of Vero Beach, Fla., $100,000 from Robert and Lauren Penter of Marietta, Ga., $100,000 from BB&T (Branch Banking and Trust Company), and $200,000 from the estate of the late Newton J. Heuberger, a UF Warrington College of Business alumnus, along with more than $100,000 from anonymous donors will be added to the William R. Hough Masters Program in Finance Fund.
The Hough Program in Finance – or the UF Masters of Science in Finance (MSF) program – was created in 2001 to allow students an opportunity to earn a master’s degree in one year at a highly-ranked business school without having full-time work experience. The program is an alternative to the traditional MBA for those who have a strong interest in finance.
“These gifts allow for significant enhancements to the MSF program,” said David Brown, UF’s William R. Hough professor of finance and MSF program director. “These enhancements leverage the existing strong course offerings to create a top-notch degree program.”
Hough’s involvement in launching the program inspired the gift from BB&T, of which he is a primary shareholder. BB&T is a North Carolina-based community bank with branches in 11 states including Florida.
“BB&T focuses much of its charitable giving on education, particularly at the university level,” said BB&T Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Allison. “We believe knowledge is a key source of competitive advantage and that successful businesses rely on employees who can think rationally and use their knowledge to serve clients.”
Hough is the founding benefactor of the program and a member of the first graduating class of UF’s MBA program (1948). Hough recently sold William R. Hough and Company after 38 years in business. St. Petersburg-based Hough and Company underwrote more public financing deals in Florida than any other company.
The Balls’ donation will be used to support a visiting lecturer, as part of the Finance Professional Speaker Series, serving students in the MSF, MBA and undergraduate programs. The presenters in the speaker series are finance professionals discussing real-life experiences in the financial markets and how they approach specific problems. The companies represented in the series are often future employers of the students attending.
“There are certainly many worthy programs at UF that we could have contributed to,” Kyle Ball said, “but the Hough Program particularly appealed to us because of its business school affiliation. Our hope is that this gift will assist students whose focus is on finance and who are seeking an alternative to a traditional MBA program.”
The Penters’ gift will establish the Betty W. Penter Memorial Scholarship, in honor of Robert Penter’s grandmother. The scholarship will support a student in the MSF program demonstrating high academic achievement.
“The University of Florida has been such an important facet of our lives,” Robert Penter said, “and we were able to avoid student loans during the early part of our marriage due to the generosity of others. We are hopeful that our gift will enable a number of other graduate students in finance to attend graduate school without a substantial financial burden.”
Penter is the national practice leader of Hewitt Investment Group and manages its Southeast region.
The Hough Endowment reached a total of more than $3.5 million in private gifts as of January, and is eligible for state matching funds from the State of Florida Major Gift Trust Fund.
The gifts will also count toward UF’s Faculty Challenge Initiative which aims to raise $150 million to give faculty the tools they need to enhance classroom instruction and conduct world-class research.
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