Baylor Dedicates Paul L. Foster Campus for Leadership and Innovation

September 25, 2015

Celebration of new home for the Hankamer School of Business includes forums with industry executives, conversation with General Electric chairman and CEO

Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-710-6275

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WACO, Texas (Sept. 25, 2015) – Before an appreciative and standing room-only audience in the Meyer Conference Center, Baylor University today dedicated the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation, the $100 million new home of the university's nationally ranked Hankamer School of Business.

The daylong celebration began with the dedication ceremony, as Baylor President and Chancellor Ken Starr joined El Paso businessman Paul L. Foster and his wife, Alejandra, Board of Regents Chairman Richard Willis, Dean Terry Maness and students of the Hankamer School of Business to cut the ribbon on the new 275,000-square-foot facility.

Following a remarkably successful fundraising campaign – including an historic $35 million gift from Paul Foster and major gifts from more than 550 additional donors – construction on the Foster Campus began in December 2013 on property along Bagby Avenue between Third and Fourth streets. Faculty and staff moved into the building over the summer, and students began classes in the Foster Campus on Aug. 24.

"That day was an important milestone in the life of the Hankamer School of Business as our students began to experience all that our new home, the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation, has to offer," Maness said. "It was exciting for me to see the students begin to explore all the new features of the Foster Campus, from social collaboration spaces to student team meeting rooms to enhanced technology and a variety of different kinds of learning spaces. The Foster Campus significantly enriches the learning experiences for our students."

At the dedication, Maness described the new campus as "a dream of ours for more than 10 years."

"It has been remarkable to watch the vision unfold to become a place where our students can be inspired, challenged and shaped into the business leaders of tomorrow," Maness said. "The state-of-the-art Foster Campus positions our school to provide a truly distinctive and collaborative learning experience. And through this, we hope that the students who go from the Hankamer School of Business will become exceptional leaders – like Paul Foster and others – who have the foresight to think beyond oneself to enrich the common good."

'Transformational education'

The Foster Campus, boldly envisioned and faithfully pursued, opens new doors to business education at Baylor. Building upon a tradition of excellence in business education, the complex positions the school to provide a truly distinctive, collaborative learning experience. It expands the size of the business school by 40 percent and increases opportunities for student and faculty collaboration across areas of business, science and technology.

The architectural design of the Foster Campus features a highly corporate and sustainable business environment. The centerpiece Hankamer Atrium encourages interaction among students and showcases the school's signature programs and classrooms, such as the Financial Markets Center. A variety of classroom learning spaces incorporate the latest classroom technology while providing flexibility to adapt as technology advances. The 350-seat McClinton Auditorium can accommodate a wide range of guest lectures and events, and the adjacent Meyer Conference Center will host seminars, symposia and conferences for business professionals of all kinds.

Since the Foster Campus opened, Jonathan Siktberg, a Baylor student regent and a junior Baylor Business Fellow, said the "campus has been abuzz about this incredible place." Siktberg spoke about what the new building has done for students and the university.

"Thanks to innovative classroom structures, we're learning better. Thanks to the new study spaces, we're studying better," he said. "And thanks to the beautiful Hankamer Atrium, we're interacting more than ever before. All of that combined helps deliver to the students that transformational education that we so cherish. To the Foster Family and all of the generous investors, we the students are deeply grateful to you for your transformative gifts that helped make this dream a reality."

'A symbol of our affection'

In his remarks, President Starr said one of the reasons Paul Foster, chairman of the board and executive chairman of Western Refining Inc., came alongside Baylor in such a powerful way was because of Dean Maness.

"Paul has shared with me how important and instrumental Terry was to him personally during his Baylor journey," President Starr said. "How many folks here can recall their days and know, on the course of their journey, there was a faculty member who came alongside him or her in such an important way. These kinds of relationships wouldn't happen if we didn't have a gathering place. And what this beautiful building represents is an enormous gathering place."

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, President Starr presented to the Fosters an antique NYSE stock ticker machine from 1872 in appreciation of the Fosters' transformational generosity and willingness to dream big.

"On behalf of the entire Baylor community, Hankamer faculty, the chair and Board of Regents, the administration and faculty, this is a symbol of our affection for you, our gratitude to you and a symbol, too, that innovation begins with things that are simple and then, in the fullness of time, things happen that you never would have dreamed of," Starr said.

'It's all worth it'

Foster earned his B.B.A. in accounting from Baylor in 1979. During his remarks, he said he attributes his values – those he's carried with him throughout his life – to the university.

"Since I believe those values helped me achieve certain accomplishments in my career and in my life, I am proud and honored to be able to have the opportunity to contribute to this amazing new campus," Foster said. "Baylor contributed to my life in meaningful ways in a relatively short period of time, and that contribution proved worthwhile and valuable to me."

Foster said the words that dominate the campus – business and innovation – are central to the American economic system.

"It's driven by business, and I also believe that business won't happen without innovation. I hope Baylor students are touched by this campus, that they will be innovators in business and be prepared to leave this campus and go out and do amazing things in this world. If my contribution helps students to that end, it's all worth it. I thank Baylor for my education, the personal interest that the institution has shown to me, for its guidance and for the values that helped me to develop," Foster said.

'For all ages to come'

A campus for the ages, the Foster Campus's environmentally responsible design is flexible to accommodate the future of technology, teaching methods and departmental needs. As the university looks to the future, Chairman Willis harkened back to the "Immortal Message" given in 1931 by then-Baylor President Samuel Palmer Brooks. On his deathbed, Brooks reminded students and alumni that it is our responsibility to maintain stewardship of Baylor for all ages to come.

"'Because of what Baylor has meant to you in the past, because of what she will mean to you in the future, oh, my students, have a care for her. Build upon the foundations here the great school of which I have dreamed, so that she may touch and mold the lives of future generations and help to fit them for life here and hereafter. To you seniors of the past, of the present, of the future, I entrust the care of Baylor University. To you I hand the torch. My love be unto you and my blessing be upon you,'" Willis said, quoting Brooks.

The celebration continued throughout the day with the 2015 Leadership and Innovation Summit, as the leading voices in technology, energy and health care participated in three Q&A forums that addressed the challenges faced by their industries and what the future holds. Industry leaders, alumni and friends of the university also networked with undergraduate and graduate students in the Julie and Jim Turner Mezzanine.

The celebration was capped off with an evening dinner and conversation between Baylor President and Chancellor Ken Starr and Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric.

The 2015 Leadership and Innovation Summit speakers included:

Technology Forum

• Godfrey Sullivan, president, CEO and chairman, Splunk
• Bob Beauchamp, chairman and CEO, BMC Software
• Trent Voigt, founder and CEO, JetPay Payment Services
• Forum facilitator: Rick Welday, president, AT&T AdWorks

Energy Forum

• Paul L. Foster, chairman and executive chairman, Western Refining
• Mark McCollum , executive vice president and CIO, Halliburton
• Bob Simpson, co-founder, XTO
•Forum facilitator: Ray Perryman, president and CEO, The Perryman Group

Health Care Forum

• Joel Allison, CEO, Baylor Scott & White Health
• Jon Foster, president, American Group, HCA
• Laura Irvine, executive vice president, Methodist Health System
• Forum facilitator: Dr. Ed Trevathan, executive vice president and provost, Baylor University

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 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. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.

ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, housed in the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation, provides a rigorous academic experience, consisting of classroom and hands-on learning, guided by Christian commitment and a global perspective. Recognized nationally for several programs, including Entrepreneurship and Accounting, the school offers 24 undergraduate and 13 graduate areas of study. Visit www.baylor.edu/business and follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Baylor_Business.