Established just four months ago, The University of Mississippi Robertson Chair of Insurance has received a major vote of confidence by State Farm Insurance, the nation's largest insurance provider.
The State Farm Companies Foundation donated $25,000 to help the Ole Miss School of Business Administration establish a premiere insurance program. Through the endowment, University leaders are confident the insurance program can attract and retain highly qualified faculty who will design an insurance curriculum that will rank among the best in the nation.
"We appreciate your interest, guidance and commitment for education, particularly insurance education," Ole Miss Chancellor Robert C. Khayat told a group of State Farm Insurance representatives when accepting the donation. "We have a commitment to build one of the best insurance programs in the South and, hopefully, in the nation. You are the best neighbor of all neighbors, and I am thankful for this relationship."
The $25,000 donation will go toward the University's efforts to establish
a $750,000 endowment. Currently, the endowment stands at $226,000. The
Robertson family of Jackson has issued a dollar-for-dollar challenge
grant in the amount of $250,000 leaving $274,000 needed to meet the
minimum goal established by the School of Business Administration.
Dr. Larry Cox, holder of the Professorship of Insurance at Ole Miss, said with its sizable donation State Farm has shown a confidence in the leadership at Ole Miss to follow through on its promises to grow a program dedicated to academic excellence.
"Their support shows what great corporate citizens State Farm is," Cox said. "They have been one of the first national companies to donate to the Chair of Insurance and they were the first to sign up for our recent Careers Day program."
Cox also expressed special thanks to State Farm's Dwain Acker, an agency field executive based in Oxford. "He really took the bull by the horns and showed that he, too, has a vision for our growing insurance program."
Acker said supporting the Chair of Insurance endowment, and ultimately the entire insurance program, is essential in today's increasingly competitive insurance market.
"Education is everything," Acker said. "Like other professions the insurance industry is becoming a very specialized field and it's going to take a commitment to education for us to fully cultivate the human resources that are required for success."