USU to get largest donation in its history

Utah State University will soon be adding the name of Utah billionaire Jon M. Huntsman Sr. to its campus, as he plans to make the largest donation the Utah school has ever received.

"He has had a lot of support for higher education in Utah, and we are very happy he is willing to support us in this," said USU spokesman John DeVilbiss. He declined to disclose the amount of the gift or what it will be spent on, saying, "We don't want to steal the thunder from the event itself."

An official announcement will happen during a Dec. 3 reception held in Huntsman's honor. In response to the gift, the university will rename its business college after Huntsman, who is the father of Utah's governor, Jon M. Huntsman Jr.

"It's a major, major event," said Steve Eaton, director of communications at USU's College of Business. "It's a key moment in our history."

Huntsman, 70, has made significant contributions to other institutions both within and outside of the state. His benefactors include the University of Utah, home of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, where an initial $10 million was invested in medical research at the U. in 1993, as well as what is said to be one of the top college arenas in the nation, the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

In 1998, he gave $40 million to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater. At that time it the largest single donation ever made to a business school. Without disclosing an exact amount, DeVilbiss said Huntsman's USU donation "will be our largest ever, no question about that."

Donations from the family business have also helped Brigham Young University and Southern Utah University to build new library facilities at the Provo and Cedar City campuses.

Huntsman has made significant contributions to USU in the form of student scholarships and grants but his particular interest in the business school will be discussed at the upcoming reception, DeVilbiss said.

"This is great news for the university," he said. "It will go far in helping us attain the goals we have set for our campuses."

Utah State has been aggressively fund-raising since President Stan L. Albrecht's March announcement of the school's comprehensive campaign, which aims to generate $200 million in contributions. So far, the school has raised about $150 million, DeVilbiss said.

USU's previous record-high gift of $15 million from entrepreneur Marc Bingham and his wife, Debbie, was announced Oct. 6. That money will fund the construction of an Entrepreneurship and Energy Research Center at USU's Uintah Basin campus in Vernal.

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Contributing: Associated Press

E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com