News and Progress

Cornells give additional millions to College of Business

Gift will Fund New Leadership Program and Enhancements for Cornell Hall

Feb. 14, 2006

The University of Missouri-Columbia announced that Harry and Ann Cornell, of Joplin, Mo., have pledged an additional $4 million to the MU College of Business.

“The College of Business is one of Missouri's centers of excellence in education,” Harry Cornell said. “It needs and deserves to have programs and a facility that attract and develop Missouri's top business students. Ann and I are blessed and pleased to be able to add the additional support. These funds will give students the opportunity to receive top-quality preparation in business and accounting and work with faculty members and other students in an outstanding educational environment. We believe this gift will further assist the college in achieving its important priorities.”

Part of the gift, $1.4 million, will create and endow a new leadership program for top-quality undergraduate students. Assistant Dean Mary Beth Marrs, who will oversee the design and implementation of the leadership program, said admission to the program will be highly selective. The program will consist of a series of honors-type courses and extracurricular activities aimed at developing leadership capabilities. The program is expected to serve 50 students initially and grow to 100 students.

The other part of the gift, $2.6 million, will be used for several purposes related to Cornell Hall including, finishing 7,400 square feet in the lower level of the building, enhancing the interior, and completing the financing from the construction and furnishing of the building. Separate planning processes will be completed to determine the specific interior enhancements and the best uses of the unfinished space. Possible uses include classrooms, an additional computer lab, student organization offices and a room for student events.

“We are excited and immensely pleased to receive this very generous gift from Harry and Ann Cornell,” said Bruce Walker, dean of the College of Business. “With this new funding, the college will start a program to attract and develop the best and brightest students in Missouri. In addition, this donation will allow us to, in effect, complete Cornell Hall by finishing shell space in the lower level and by enhancing the interior of the building in various ways.”

The Cornell's leadership gift of $1.5 million in 1995, augmented by an equal gift from Leggett & Platt, Inc., provided the impetus for the college's successful capital campaign that raised $31 million for support of students, faculty and programs, and also for the construction of Harry and Ann Cornell Hall, which was completed in 2002. The Cornells' contributions to the College of Business, including the current $4 million gift, now total more than $7 million. When the Leggett & Platt, Inc. gift is considered, the Cornells' financial effect on the college is nearly $9 million. Cornell is chairman emeritus of Leggett & Platt, a Fortune 500 company with headquarters in Carthage, Missouri. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from MU in 1950.