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Alumnus Darla Moore makes
$45 million gift to University
Alumna and financier Darla Moore, a 1975 USC graduate, is giving the Moore School at the University $45 million. The amount, when combined with a previous gift of $25 million from Moore in 1998, makes her $70 million contribution the largest private gift ever to a U.S. business school.
Each of Moore’s gifts has been the single largest gift to a South Carolina institution of higher learning. Moore did not attend the press conference, but remarks by her were read by Moore School MBA student Bryan Van Vranken.
“The business school is an integral part of the future of South Carolina, and I am proud of the progress made in recent years in many aspects of the school,” Moore said in a press release. “Most of you in this room know just how much change has occurred, and many have been part of fostering that change.
"I believe we can—and we must—continue to improve, compete, excel, and ultimately prosper through our continued efforts.”
Moore’s gift also is significant because she is challenging the University to match that amount for the business school, bringing the total sum to $90 million. President Sorensen said Friday that USC is committed to matching the gift through an additional $30 million in private support and $15 million in public funds.
The funds will go toward a major renovation of the school’s facilities and will support scholarships and endowed professorships. The school’s Close Building was built in 1973 and the Hipp Building was constructed in 1983.
Smith said the gift affirms the vision for school to strive for greatness.
“This is a moment to be cherished—the moment when the Moore School’s pursuit of excellence turned into the pursuit of greatness. Darla Moore has invested in the Moore School. Her support will foster faculty recruitment and support, give academic assistance for our brightest students and provide a world-class facility that will nurture their teaching and learning.”
Sorensen said Moore’s gift both signifies the schools’ strength and presages greater achievements.
“We are extremely grateful to Darla Moore for her continued generosity to the Moore School of Business,” Sorensen said. “Her gift is a validation of the strength and of the potential of the Moore School. Her generosity does not mean we can take it easy now. In fact, we must work even more diligently to meet her challenge and expectations, which we share, to improve the lives of South Carolinians.”
The Moore School has earned national and international recognition, particularly for its top-ranked program in international business, but the school’s reputation in other fields is spreading.
The May issue of Entrepreneur magazine ranks the entrepreneurship program among the top 100 in the country. The school is ranked No. 1 in the country for its undergraduate international business program and No. 2 for its graduate program in the latest U.S. News & World Report College and Graduate School Guide. The U.S. News guide ranks the Moore School 39th for overall programs.
The school also has earned to rankings in The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. A ranking published by The Wall Street Journal Europe lists the Moore School’s international MBA among the top 15 MBA programs offered in Europe, and The Financial Times of London has ranked the Moore School of Business 36th in the world.
Moore’s gift makes her the benefactor of USC's two largest gifts. In 1998, she gave $25 million to the College of Business Administration. USC officials named the school in her honor, making the business school the nation’s first major business school to be named for a woman.
Moore, who grew up in Lake City, is executive vice president of Rainwater Inc., one of the nation’s largest private investment firms. The company is engaged primarily in the founding and building of major companies in the healthcare service, oil service, natural gas, insurance, and real estate industries.
She serves on USC’s Board of Trustees and is a former member of the USC Educational Foundation Board. She is founder and chairwoman of the Palmetto Institute, a private policy research group in South Carolina. Moore earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from USC and an MBA from George Washington University.
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