The AT&T Foundation, the corporate philanthropy organization of AT&T Inc., announced on Nov. 7, 2007, a $325,000 grant to the Arkansas State University Foundation to support the establishment of two endowments honoring James W. Callaway '68, AT&T senior executive vice president-Executive Operations (pictured at left).
One of the two endowments establishes the James W. Callaway/AT&T Faculty Fellowship, which will focus on the state of journalism in the Lower Mississippi Delta. A faculty fellow will provide mentoring opportunities for ASU students and Delta high school students while enhancing the academic community through service and research.
The other endowment, the James W. Callaway/AT&T Scholarship Endowment in Business, will provide needed scholarships to students who are from diverse backgrounds and have varied abilities. The scholarship program will serve minority and underserved students majoring in accounting, law, marketing, management, economics, finance, computer information technology or business administration.
Callaway earned a degree in business administration from ASU in 1968. The Little Rock native serves on the board of the ASU Foundation and, at Homecoming 2007, was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus of the university by the ASU Alumni Association. He joined Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., now AT&T, in 1968 and was appointed to his current position in May 2007.
"We are delighted that AT&T has made this generous grant to Arkansas State University in the name of ASU’s outstanding alumnus Jim Callaway,” said Robert Potts, ASU-Jonesboro chancellor. “This grant will provide the opportunity for countless students to seek an education in our College of Business and will ensure the continued tradition of excellently trained journalists from the College of Communications. We are very grateful to AT&T for its support of Arkansas State University.”
Callaway studied journalism as well as business administration at ASU. “The business and communications skills I learned here prepared me for my first marketing position and have sustained me throughout my career with AT&T," he said. "It’s wonderful to know that others will be able to gain their own life skills through these endowments.”
“Education is a primary funding area for the AT&T Foundation, especially initiatives that help nontraditional and underserved students prepare for and gain access to college and successfully complete college,” said Ed Drilling, president of AT&T Arkansas. “On behalf of the 2,600 AT&T employees in this state, I am very pleased to announce this contribution, which honors a fellow Arkansan and creates tremendous new opportunities for the next generation of leaders.”
Drilling also recognized members of the local legislative delegation: “Senator Paul Bookout '85 and representatives Chris Thyer '91, Joan Cash [ALND] and Ray Kidd are tremendous advocates for ASU and work to improve education opportunities for all students, K-12. This community is fortunate to have them on its side.”
“ASU is central to the life of Northeast Arkansas and strong schools are key to our state’s success,” Bookout said. “It’s a privilege to represent the district that includes ASU and to work with so many others to bring new resources to Arkansas students.”
