A press release by FAMU stated that “this is the largest
single-year fundraising total in Florida A&M University’s 128-year history,
only exceeding the $5.8 million raised in 2014-2015 after a renewed focus was
placed on fundraising under the leadership of President Elmira Mangum, Ph.D.”
$5 million of the $5.8 million in 2014-2015 came from a gift
by John W. Thompson, an alumnus of the School of Business and Industry (SBI)
and chairman of the Microsoft Corporation Board of Directors. That donation was
the result of a negotiating process led by SBI Dean Shawnta Friday-Stroud and
her team that followed the fundraising model of founding SBI Dean Sybil C.
Mobley. The negotiations took years to complete.
The FAMU press release didn’t include a breakdown of the
gifts for the 2015-2016. But SBI continues to be a big source of university
fundraising.
On May 26, 2016, Hershey Company Chairman Jim Nevels visited SBI
and discussed his company’s decision to donate $1 million to FAMU to establish the
Mobley Hershey Endowed Chair. He said Hershey’s great admiration for Mobley’s
work led it to make that contribution to FAMU.