Utah State's Huntsman School Establishes Fund for Faculty Excellence

Utah State University’s Jon M. Huntsman School of Business announced the establishment of the Huntsman Fund for Faculty Excellence. The $15 million fund will create a permanent endowment for named professorships.

For more than a decade, Jon M. Huntsman and his family have sought to enable the Huntsman School’s mission to develop leaders of distinction in commerce and public affairs. The Huntsman Foundation has provided over $55 million of support since 2007 to expand opportunities for students through direct scholarships and enhanced program offerings to develop students who can compete with the best and brightest anywhere in the world.

“Jon Huntsman loved Utah State University, and he loved the students of Utah State University. His vision was to help us build a college that would produce students capable of competing with those who graduate from the finest institutions in the world — but at a fraction of the price,” said Douglas D. Anderson, dean of the Jon. M. Huntsman School of Business and the Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Professor of Leadership. “The Huntsman family’s generous gifts to USU over the past decade have enabled us to continue to create an environment of remarkable opportunities for our students, so that they can personify our motto to dare mighty things.”

To enable the Huntsman School of Business to attract superior talent to USU, the Huntsman Fund for Faculty Excellence has been established as a permanent endowment within the Utah State University Foundation and has been capitalized with $15 million: $12 million provided by the Huntsman Foundation through previous gifts, with an initial match from the Huntsman School of Business of $3 million. The initial named professorships through the fund are:

• The Karen Haight Huntsman Endowed Professor. The endowed professorship will support a female faculty in any department of the Huntsman School.
• The David B. Haight Endowed Professor. The endowed professorship will support an exceptional member of the faculty in any department of the Huntsman School.
• The Douglas D. Anderson Endowed Professor.
• The Harry M. Reid Endowed Professor. The endowed professorship will support research and/or teaching faculty in any department of the Huntsman School.
• The Stephen R. Covey Endowed Professor of Leadership.

 “My grandfather was a teacher, and my father believed that great teachers played a crucial role in the lives of young people,” said David Huntsman, president of the Huntsman Foundation. “It is my hope that this fund will help Utah State University recruit and retain talented faculty who can have an outsize impact on students for generations to come, and thereby contribute to our community and the world.” 

The mission of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business is to develop leaders of distinction in commerce and public affairs. Its pillars of excellence include ethical leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, global vision and analytical rigor that enable it to be an engine of growth for the community, the state, the nation and the world, and enable students to lead lives of meaning and contribution. For more information, visit www.huntsman.usu.edu.