CHARLOTTE – The Belk College of Business at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has received a $1 million contribution from the BB&T Charitable Foundation to create a program for the study of the moral foundations of capitalism.
 The donation was spearheaded by BB&T Chairman and CEO John A. Allison IV, who found common interests with Claude Lilly, dean of the Belk College.
“During a dinner meeting last year, our conversation turned from ethics and leadership to metaphysics, Objectivism and Ayn Rand,” Lilly said. “John and I discovered that we share an interest in how business schools discuss capitalism in their courses, as well as the importance of teaching ethics and values in business.”
The contribution is payable over five years and will be used to support the development of a course on ethics and morals in capitalism for advanced business undergraduates and MBA students. Lilly will be the first instructor for the course, which will be offered as a business elective in the spring 2006 semester. Additionally, the gift will fund faculty research on the philosophical underpinnings of capitalism; create a speakers series focusing on ethical and core values in business; support the Center for Applied Ethics at UNC Charlotte; and establish an Ayn Rand reading room on campus.
The BB&T Charitable Foundation is the philanthropic arm of BB&T Corporation, currently the nation's ninth largest financial holding company. Based in Winston-Salem, BB&T has more than 26,000 employees and more than 1,400 locations in 11 states and Washington, D.C. Allison, a 1971 graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, has served as chairman and CEO of BB&T since 1989.
Accredited by AACSB International, the Belk College of Business at UNC Charlotte prepares students and professionals for management careers in financial services, technology management, distribution and operations, accounting and international business. With more than 2,900 undergraduate students and 460 graduate students, the Belk College is one of the largest business programs in the Carolinas. www.belkcollege.uncc.edu.
A doctoral/research intensive university, UNC Charlotte is the fourth largest of the 16 institutions within the University of North Carolina system and the largest institution in the Charlotte region. The university comprises seven professional colleges and currently offers 14 doctoral programs, 59 master’s degree programs and 83 leading to bachelor’s degrees. More than 800 full-time faculty comprise the university’s academic departments and this fall, enrollment exceeds more than 20,000 students

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Media contact: Catharine Davidson, (704) 687-6131