WVU renames business school for alum and former Cisco chairman John Chambers
So, just what do West Virginia University and its president, E. Gordon Gee, have in common with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron?
They all have a commitment from former Cisco Systems head and WVU alumnus John Chambers to spend a percentage of his time supporting and advising them.
In an arrangement WVU called unusual — one it says will bring the land-grant university both financial and intellectual resources — Mr. Chambers is pledging a gift that includes committing 5 percent of his time to the university, similar to arrangements he has made with the Indian and French governments, university officials said.
The gift was announced Friday afternoon at an event on the Morgantown campus.
Officials did not disclose a dollar value for the gift. But the university says its business and economics college will be renamed the John Chambers College of Business and Economics.
Mr. Chambers, 69, former CEO and chairman of Cisco Systems Inc. and founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures, will support a recently announced startup engine at the college.
According to WVU officials, his gift will help:
• Build out and operate the startup engine.
• Create a philanthropic venture capital fund in support of the project.
• Create a Center for Artificial Intelligence Management to explore AI’s opportunities and challenges.
• Establish a fund to support the creation of the Center for AI Management.
“I’ve always believed in the power of education, but we need to reinvent our schools for a new, digital era. I’m betting on the Mountaineers and believe my home state can become a startup state if the university, business and public sectors come together to support transformative innovation,” Mr. Chambers, a Charleston native, said in a statement accompanying the announcement.
Mr. Gee called the gift momentous, and the school’s dean went further.
“This is an incredible opportunity,” Javier Reyes said. “John Chambers is personally investing his talent and resources to transform how we think, how we work and how we improve our economy.”
According to WVU, Mr. Chambers has a bachelor of science/bachelor of arts degree in business and a law degree from the university. He also has a master of business administration degree in finance and management from Indiana University.