Anheuser-Busch to Help UMSL Establish New Building for College of Business Administration

Anheuser-Busch Hall Will Bring Together Business School Resources

ST. LOUIS -- The Anheuser-Busch Foundation has pledged $2.5 million over the next five years to the University of Missouri-St. Louis toward the construction of a new College of Business Administration building. UMSL is in the early stages of fundraising and planning for the new Anheuser-Busch Hall to house the business school’s classrooms, research, technology and meeting facilities under one roof.

“Anheuser-Busch has long recognized and supported the unique role UMSL plays in educating St. Louis’s work force,” said UMSL Chancellor Tom George. “We have more alumni living and working in this region than any other university. This deeply appreciated gift will help ensure that UMSL in general and the business college specifically continue to provide St. Louis with innovative, award-winning academic programming and diverse alumni who assume leadership roles in companies and organizations large and small.”

This new building will streamline all the current business school operations, offering students and faculty a centralized place to collaborate, interact and share ideas within their specific disciplines. It will feature cutting edge classrooms, modern computer laboratories, faculty offices, seminar and conference rooms and student organization suites. Nearly 18,000 of UMSL’s College of Business Administration 24,000 alumni live and work in the St. Louis area.

“Supporting educational needs continues to be at the core of Anheuser-Busch’s charitable giving philosophy. We are proud to invest in UMSL students’ education so they can reinvest their skills and expertise into the local community,” said Dave Peacock, president, Anheuser-Busch. “The Anheuser-Busch Hall will be a great place to foster learning, collaboration and the development of future generations of St. Louis business leaders who are dedicated to helping our city thrive and grow.”

“There is tremendous value in creating a complex that provides our students and faculty with the latest in teaching and research technologies and brings together our diverse students and faculty into a common setting with common purpose,” said Keith Womer, dean of the college. “Our students and faculty are very thankful to Anheuser-Busch. This gift will benefit them greatly.”

Anheuser-Busch and the Anheuser-Busch Foundation have funded a number of significant programs, building initiatives and scholarships at UMSL throughout its history. Most notably, Anheuser-Busch supported the enhancement and completion of the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center in 2000, which includes the Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall. This venue attracts top talent from around the globe and has been enjoyed by thousands of area residents since its opening. In honor of its long-standing support and generosity toward the school, the university presented the company with the Des and Mary Ann Lee Medal for Philanthropy in September, 2008.

For more than 100 years, Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, and the Anheuser-Busch Foundation have reached out to groups in need, contributing to community organizations across the country and touching countless individual lives. During the past decade alone, the company and its foundation have donated more than $370 million to charitable organizations, including those that support education, health care, the arts, cultural enrichment, social services and environmental conservation.

UMSL’s College of Business Administration was established in 1967. It offers bachelor’s degrees in accounting, management information systems and business administration. Students declaring a degree in business administration may choose from five emphasis areas: finance; international business; logistics and operations management; management and organizational behavior; and marketing.

The college also offers a traditional master’s of business administration program and an online MBA program, as well as doctoral degrees in business administration with an emphasis in information systems and logistics and supply chain management. The college’s International Business program has been ranked in the top 20 in the nation six consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report and the college is among only 10 percent of business schools in the United States to carry the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation for both business administration and accounting programs. Visit http://www.umsl.edu/divisions/business for more information about the College of Business Administration at UMSL.