ExxonMobil Foundation Presents Baylor with $369,500 from Educational Matching Gifts Program
More than 80 Baylor alumni, parents and friends joined together with Baylor staff and faculty April 27 to participate in the ?Baylor Day? held by alumni at ExxonMobil's campus in Houston. (Courtesy photo)
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WACO, Texas (May 1, 2017) – Baylor University announced today that it has received $369,500 from ExxonMobil and its employees through the ExxonMobil Foundation’s 2016 Educational Matching Gift Program.
Representatives from ExxonMobil presented L. Gregory Jones, Ph.D., executive vice president and provost, and Dave Rosselli, vice president for development, with the check during an April 27 ceremony celebrating the generosity of ExxonMobil and the impact the company and its employees’ contributions continue to have on the University. The ceremony was part of a “Baylor Day” held by Baylor alumni at ExxonMobil’s campus in Houston.
“We at Baylor University are grateful for companies like ExxonMobil who encourage philanthropy among their employees in order to improve their communities,” Jones said. “The Matching Gifts Program continues to provide resources for our academic programs and scholarship support that affect so many of our students and faculty. I am grateful for the alumni, parents, grandparents and friends who have chosen to increase their contributions by participating in this program. It is making a significant impact in the lives of our students and the broader Baylor academic mission.”
More than 80 Baylor alumni, parents and friends joined together with Baylor staff and faculty Thursday to participate in the “Baylor Day” at the 385-acre, state-of-the-art campus. ExxonMobil employees enjoyed presentations from a host of Baylor representatives, including Jones, Rosselli and Deans Lee Nordt (College of Arts & Sciences), Dennis O’Neal (Engineering and Computer Science) and Terry Maness (Business).
The ExxonMobil Foundation is the primary philanthropic arm of the Exxon Mobil Corp. The Foundation’s contribution, representing the generosity of many alumni, friends and supporters of higher education, underscores a long-standing commitment to higher education that is the foundation for Baylor’s relationship with the ExxonMobil Corp. The 2016 gift increases the ExxonMobil Foundation’s giving to a cumulative amount of more than $8.7 million at Baylor.
In 2016-2017, ExxonMobil employees, retirees, directors and surviving spouses contributed $128,936 to Baylor, which was matched at a 3:1 ratio with $369,501 in unrestricted grants from the ExxonMobil Foundation for a total of $498,437 given to Baylor for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. Although the contributions can be used for a wide variety of academic programs, colleges and universities are encouraged to designate a portion to math and science programs supporting student engagement.
The program matches donor pledges 3:1 up to $7,500 to qualified colleges and universities in the United States, along with the American Indian College Fund, Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the United Negro College Fund. In 2016, ExxonMobil’s employees, retirees and surviving spouses donated nearly $17.5 million to institutions of higher education. Since the Educational Matching Gift Program began in 1962, more than $632 million have been donated to American institutions of higher learning.
While ExxonMobil’s program is one of the most generous, more than 7,500 companies offer matching gift programs to their employees.
To find out more about matching gifts to Baylor University, visit www.matchinggifts.com/baylor or contact University Development at 254-710-2561. Gifts, including matching gifts, may be securely made online at www.baylor.edu/onlinegiving.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.