The Emma Eccles Jones Foundation Gives $25 Million Gift to Education

Utah State University announced today that The Emma Eccles Jones Foundation is making a $25 million gift to USU’s College of Education and Human Services. The gift will be used for construction of an additional education and research building and to fund a number of endowed professorships in early childhood education.

“The College of Education and Human Services is already renowned nationally, and this gift culminates a long-term relationship between the College, the Foundation, and its founder, Emma Eccles Jones,” said USU President Stan L. Albrecht. 

 

“Jones’s legacy is one of dedication to the education of teachers and children,” said Albrecht. “This gift is a fitting tribute to her.”

 

Jones spent her life seeking to improve the opportunities and experiences of children — first as a kindergarten teacher in Logan at the Whittier School, which was later incorporated into what is now the Edith Bowen Laboratory School, and later as a philanthropist. She personally funded the construction of the current Emma Eccles Jones Education Building, and the Foundation she established in 1973 continues to support the causes with which her name is synonymous. The Foundation’s directors have carried forward her special relationship with the College.

 

“This College is among the elites in the country in both academics and in the impact of its programs on people in our state and across the nation,” said Albrecht. “This gift will allow the College to continue to excel — and continue the work that Emma loved.”

 

Carol Strong, dean of the College, said this significant gift reflects the strengths of the programs and the commitment of faculty in the College to making a difference in peoples’ lives.

 

Strong said the support of The Emma Eccles Jones Foundation has been a key factor in the national accolades the college has received. For the past nine years, the college has been ranked in the top two percent of graduate programs nationally by U.S. News and World Report. This past year, it ranked 26th in a field of more than 1,200 colleges of education, and was second in the nation in research funding generated by its faculty.

 

“All that is in addition, of course, to training the largest number of early childhood, elementary and special education teachers among all state institutions,” Strong said. “And our cutting-edge programs in distance education continue to develop highly qualified ‘home-grown’ teachers and educational leaders who truly understand the needs of rural communities. This College is not just a building or a number of buildings. We are a community of people and services committed to meeting critical educational needs.”

 

The University is planning a ceremony in April 2008 to celebrate the gift and honor the Foundation for its support.