UT School New Name
UT school of communication gets new name after Galveston foundation donates $50 million
After receiving a generous donation, the College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin now has a new name. Say hello to the new Moody College of Communication after it was announced that the college would be the recipient of a $50 million commitment from the Moody Foundation.
With this monetary endowment, the newly christened Moody College of Communication will look to support various projects and to help place the college among the country’s leading institutions for research and teaching in new media. The college is home to several departments including advertising and public relations, communication sciences and disorders, communication studies, journalism and radio-television-film.
"It's a huge honor to have the Moody name attached to a college that is so well known around the state and nation."
Ross Moody, a UT Austin and trustee of the Moody Foundation said in a statement that his foundation “seeks to increase the presence of the university on a national and international basis and improve the quality of its education by recruiting the best professors, the best administration and in turn having the best students coming out of the Moody College of Communication. It's a huge honor to have the Moody name attached to a college that is so well known around the state and nation."
The Moody Foundation is a charitable foundation providing grants primarily in its home base of Galveston, but it also in Austin and Dallas. It was founded by W.L. Moody, Jr. and Libbie Rice Shearn Moody to provide gifts and grants to fund education, social services, children’s needs and community development. Today, many of the trustees and staff are third and fourth generation members of the Moody family.
Dean Rod Hart expressed his appreciation of the gift saying that it will “transform all areas of the Moody College and continue to serve the people of Texas." The $50 million will go towards various initiatives at the Moody College. Each of the five departments will receive a $1 million endowment to support department leaders and curricular development. Up to $13 million will double the amount of funding currently available for graduate student recruiting.
The rest of the investment will support undergraduate curricular work, research and outreach centers, and enhancing classroom space and facilities. An additional $5 million will go towards refurbishing portions of the Jesse H. Jones Complex, adding three new lecture halls in the Communication B Building and adding a pedestrian bridge between the Jones Complex and the Belo Center for New Media.
The Moody College of Communication, will host a celebration that will take place on campus Nov. 7 with speakers including Ross Moody, UT President Bill Powers and Dean Hart.