The Goizueta Foundation has presented a grant of $2.5 million to Yale to endow a senior professorship in chemical engineering, which will be known as the Roberto C. Goizueta Chair in Chemical Engineering. The grant also will provide an endowed research fund for the faculty recipient of the chair.
In announcing the new professorship, President Richard C. Levin said the Roberto C. Goizueta Chair will fill a critical need for new faculty who will expand and improve teaching and research programs in chemical engineering at Yale. "Distinguished faculty members will always represent the heart and soul of any great university," said Levin. "The addition of an important professorial chair will have a major impact on Yale Engineering by expanding both the scope and the quality of current areas of teaching and research. I am truly grateful to The Goizueta Foundation for this far-sighted grant."
President Levin also paid tribute to Roberto C. Goizueta, a 1953 graduate of Yale College. "The endowed chair is important not only for its impact on teaching but also as a tribute to the memory of one of the University's most distinguished alumni," he said.
According to D. Allan Bromley, dean of Yale Engineering, establishing an endowed senior professorship and accompanying research fund will enhance Yale's ability to attract world-class scholars to its faculty.
The Goizueta Foundation, a private, general purpose, grant-making foundation, was established by Goizueta in 1992 to "provide ongoing financial assistance for educational, cultural, religious, and charitable institutions."
Goizueta was chair of the board and chief executive officer of The Coca-Cola Company from 1981 until his death in 1997. He created The Goizueta Foundation, in the words of its charter, "to acknowledge his indebtedness to this country and to continue the commitment to philanthropic endeavors that has symbolized the leadership of The Coca-Cola Company for more than a century."
Goizueta received a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from Yale. In 1984 he was a Gordon Grand Fellow at Yale, and in 1996 he was awarded the University's inaugural Sheffield Fellowship. Goizueta was given a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University in 1997 in honor of his outstanding leadership in the business world. At that time, Levin applauded Goizueta's commitment to civic service and especially to educational advancement, saying, "Through corporate and personal example, in civic, educational and cultural endeavors, [Roberto Goizueta has] helped many to live the American dream."