JCSU News Release

BB&T Endowed Professorship

August 20, 2007 - Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T Corporation has made a major commitment to endow the teaching of capitalism and free markets at Johnson C. Smith University.

JCSU President Dorothy Cowser Yancy, joined by BB&T Regional President Lewis Moore and BB&T Senior Vice President Tom Baldwin, announced the $500,000 contribution on August 20, 2007, at the university. “Capitalism and free markets are central to an economic system that provides an improved standard of living. Our students will benefit from a deeper understanding of the principles involved,” Yancy said.

The BB&T Endowed Professor in Free Market Capitalism will provide funding in the university’s Department of Business Administration and Economics for a full-time faculty member. The faculty member selected for the professorship will lead courses and lecture series examining the moral and philosophical implications of capitalism, based on writer Ayn Rand’s philosophy and her book “Atlas Shrugged.”

“Unfortunately, we find that many business graduates enter the workplace without a firm grasp of the moral principles underlying the free markets,” said BB&T Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Allison. “Our contribution will help Johnson C. Smith University provide students a hands-on perspective on capitalism and free markets, a better understanding of our economy, and an enhanced ability to make meaningful contributions to the world.”

"This gift will ensure the long-term future of excellence in business instruction at the university," said Marilyn Sutton-Haywood, vice president of academic affairs. "We are all enormously grateful for the support BB&T has provided for this important area.”

BB&T sponsors similar academic programs at several universities around the country, including Clemson University, UNC Wilmington, and the University of Charleston (West Virginia).

With $127.6 billion in assets, BB&T Corporation is the nation’s 11th largest financial holding company. It operates more than 1,500 financial centers in the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Indiana and Washington, D.C.