McCombs receives $25m from AT&T

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McCombs Business School Receives $25m Donation from AT&T

14 June 2007

The University of Texas at Austin's McCombs School of Business and international communications company AT&T have signed a $25m technical partnership to ensure that the new university's new Executive Education and Conference Center reaches to and beyond world-class communications technology standards.

The 25 year agreement means that AT&T will equip the center with the latest innovations in voice, broadband, wireless and television services. The university will provide visitors and guests with complimentary AT&T Wi-Fi service and AT&T television in individual guest rooms, the lobby, educational spaces and other public common areas. Each guest room and conference room will be equipped with universal cell phone and PDA charging stations. AT&T will also equip a full-service business center to provide state-of-the-art technology and communications services. All AT&T services will be provided to the university at or below market rates.

McCombs is one of only a few top-20 business schools that lacks an executive education center; its Master of Business Administration program is the only top-10 program without a center that provides accommodations for executive education functions. With AT&T’s commitment, the center will soon be a technologically advanced educational environment supporting the business school and many other university programs.

The building currently under construction and scheduled to open in August 2008 is designed to foster interaction among symposia, workshop or class participants and will serve the meeting and conferencing needs of the university community and state and national higher education associations.With its comprehensive array of features, it will be among the premier executive education facilities in the nation.

The architecturally unique facility (www.meetattexas.com) will contain seven tiered classrooms, a 300-seat amphitheater, multiple break-out rooms, several conference rooms and an 800-seat ballroom to complement 300 guest rooms and three restaurants.

Bounded by University Avenue, Martin Luther King Boulevard, Whitis Avenue, and 20th Street, the center will be two blocks from the university’s McCombs School of Business. It will position the business school, which is the anchor client for the facility, as one of the leading providers of both degree and nondegree executive education in the United States.

Plans call for the facility to feature educational opportunities for learners of all ages and academic disciplines. The university’s 16 colleges and schools, research institutes and museums have already expressed interest in bringing state, national and international programs to the center.

“With this very generous commitment, AT&T has joined the university in this ambitious undertaking for lifelong learning,” said William Powers Jr., president of The University of Texas at Austin. “Together, we’ll bring forth a center that bridges academia with enterprise and prepares future leaders worldwide.”

McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin.