AUSTIN, Texas—Rex Tillerson, president of Exxon Mobil Corporation and an alumnus of The University of Texas at Austin, will present ExxonMobil’s Educational Matching Gift donation of more than $500,000 to the university on Wednesday, April 13.
Tillerson will present the donation to the university’s provost, Sheldon Ekland-Olson, at 1 p.m. in the Charles Francis Auditorium in the School of Law. The presentation will highlight the strong partnership between the school and ExxonMobil and will include progress made on the company’s corporate archives that were donated to the Center for American History in October 2003. Presentations also will be given by the deans of the selected colleges and schools that benefit from the Educational Matching Fund Gift.
“Education is one of ExxonMobil’s key focus areas. A primary goal in our relationship with The University of Texas at Austin is to help maintain the excellent educational programs established here,” said Tillerson. “The Educational Matching Gift program emphasizes the company’s support of UT and higher education as a whole.”
“ExxonMobil’s philanthropy is truly impressive—and truly appreciated,” said University of Texas at Austin President Larry R. Faulkner, noting that the company’s latest gift brings its total contributions to the university to more than $35 million. “It is an outstanding example of how corporations and academic institutions can join together to advance science, disseminate new knowledge, and encourage educational excellence.”
Initiated in 1962, the ExxonMobil Foundation’s Educational Matching Gift program matches gifts to higher education on a 3-to-1 basis and has provided more than $300 million to colleges and universities in the United States. This year, the combined contributions of ExxonMobil and its employees, retirees, surviving spouses and directors provided 932 colleges and universities across the country with more than $26.3 million.
Prior to the grant presentation, Faulkner will host a luncheon featuring Dr. Don Carleton, executive director of the Center for American History. Carleton will detail the center’s progress on ExxonMobil’s corporate archives. The historical collection consists of about four million documents, two million photographs, 30,000 moving image and sound recordings, and 3,000 artifacts. The university has valued the collection at $10 million. Several of the artifacts will be displayed during the day.
ExxonMobil Foundation is the primary philanthropic arm of the Exxon Mobil Corporation in the United States. The Foundation engages in a broad range of philanthropic activities focusing on the communities where Exxon Mobil Corporation has significant operations. In 2004, ExxonMobil Foundation, Exxon Mobil Corporation, and its divisions and affiliates provided $106.5 million in contributions worldwide, with $40 million dedicated to education.
For more information contact: Ginger Starr, Sunwest Communications, 214-373-1601.
