Tuskegee University News February 19, 2015 Tuskegee University awarded major gift under new administration The Thurgood Marshall College Fund has awarded Tuskegee University $885,000 in Microsoft-funded grant software. According to a representative from the TMCF, the award is the largest single grant given by the organization in the last four years. This is the first major $500,000 or more gift for the university under the leadership of its seventh president, Dr. Brian L. Johnson. According to a release from the organization, the TMCF Technology Initiative was created to address long-term technology needs of HBCU campuses and to identify funding sources to support technology upgrades. The grant makes available Microsoft software and licenses across the spectrum of Microsoft products including operating system software, desktop applications, programming, server, site management and instructional software. The university will use the software to enhance campus computing labs with the latest technology to help support student education and research. "We are very pleased that the Thurgood Marshall Fund administered Microsoft award to Tuskegee University is the first of what we hope to be many more as we translate Tuskegee's historic tradition into a 21st century trajectory," Johnson said. "This software grant is key to the implementation of one of my five strategic priorities- Fully Inaugurating 21st Century Higher Education at Tuskegee University: (Through) Innovative Online and Expanded Academic Programming and Instruction, Infrastructure and Technology." "This year, TMCF is committed to making big and bold bets on HBCUs, particularly those with smart strategies. When Tuskegee's new president, Dr. Johnson, came to us with a request to invest in the school's technology infrastructure as part of his overall knowledge-based, data-informed, and outcomes-oriented strategy, it was immediately and abundantly clear Tuskegee was headed in the right direction and TMCF needed to support it. We, along with our partners at Microsoft, are excited to watch the transformation at Tuskegee," says Johnny Taylor, President and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Newly appointed IT/IRAP Director and Chief Information Officer, Jenell Sargent, played a key role in preparing the proposal for this competitive grant. Sargent said, "We are so very pleased that this grant will assist our efforts to increase our technological needs for both our faculty and students. I was very pleased to join President's Johnson's administration because of his vision for a 21st Century Tuskegee that we are quickly realizing." SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.