Michigan State University’s ability to advance the fields of chemical engineering and materials science will be enhanced with a real estate gift appraised at $1.725 million which will subsequently be sold to support the College of Engineering.
An endowed faculty position and scholarship will be created through the gift from Craig A. Rogerson, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Chemtura. He is a 1979 chemical engineering graduate of MSU.
“I have an appreciation for and have been impressed with the work going on at Michigan State, especially in the College of Engineering,” Rogerson said. “I see the need for more classically trained chemical engineers in the industry, so I see this as a real opportunity to get the best and brightest back into chemical engineering.”
Rogerson’s gift is based on the sale of real estate he owned in southern New Jersey. Rogerson, who lives with his wife, Irene, in Bay Harbor, Michigan, and Philadelphia, donated the property to MSU to establish the endowed faculty position and a new scholarship fund.
“I am grateful to Craig for his generous gift of real estate,” said President Lou Anna K. Simon. “It will result in a valued contribution to our Empower Extraordinary campaign goal of creating 100 endowed faculty positions. His gift will enable the College of Engineering to create a brand-new position and immediately begin its search for a professor of the highest caliber to fill it.”
Leo Kempel, dean of the College of Engineering, said the addition of another endowed faculty position represents the sixth new position as a part of the Empower Extraordinary Capital Campaign.
“Endowed faculty positions are among the most generous gifts donors can provide the college,” he said. “They not only ensure excellence in higher education and teaching, but they contribute to the university’s growth and innovation. I am very grateful to Craig for his generosity.”
This gift of real estate is a great example of how donors can consider a wide range of assets they have at their disposal when making such a significant investment in MSU, noted Bob Groves, vice president for University Advancement.
“MSU carefully considers the marketability and liabilities associated with gifts of real estate before they are accepted, and we have a process to do that,” Groves said. “In this case, a gift of appreciated real estate provided a great vehicle to make a larger gift that otherwise might not have been possible.”
This gift supports Empower Extraordinary, the $1.5 billion campaign for MSU that publicly launched in October 2014.
To date, the College of Engineering has raised nearly $50 million of its $80 million campaign goal.
Chemtura is a global specialty chemicals company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris, with leading positions in transportation, energy and electronics, building and construction, and other diversified markets.
Rogerson joined Chemtura in December 2008 after serving as president, CEO, and director of Hercules Inc.
He currently serves on the board of directors of PPL, where he chairs the Compensation, Nominating and Governance Committee and sits on the Audit Committee. He is also on the American Chemistry Council board, and serves as treasurer on the Society of Chemical Industry board. In addition, he serves on the advisory board of the MSU Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.
For more information on making a gift to the College of Engineering, contact Associate Director of Development Jeremy Wittrock at wittrock@egr.msu.edu or call (517) 355-8339.