Gifts Made by Employees, Retirees Tripled Through Educational Matching Gift Program

ExxonMobil has donated $586,766 to the University of Houston (UH) through its educational matching gift program to support math and science initiatives.

Alumni and friends of UH who are among ExxonMobil’s employees and retirees contributed nearly $150,000 in 2010 to the university, which was matched three-to-one by the ExxonMobil Foundation. Up by $54,000 from the previous year, this year’s matching gift represents 164 contributions.

Through these funds, universities are encouraged to invest in math and science programs to increase and support student engagement and progress in these subjects, encouraging students to develop a keen interest in careers in these fields.

Mirroring ExxonMobil’s personnel, funds predominantly went to the Cullen College of Engineering, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Bauer College of Business and the UH Law Center. While donations went to a variety of programs and initiatives, most went to scholarships, including the UH TierOne Scholarship Fund that UH plans to match.

“The increasing financial support of our alumni and friends at ExxonMobil, combined with the company’s industry-leading three-to-one matching policy, illustrate why this is one of our most important corporate relationships,” said UH President Renu Khator. “We are very proud to count ExxonMobil as a partner in our mission to serve as the state’s next Tier One research university.”

To date, ExxonMobil has given more than $10 million to UH, with the matching gift program bringing in $5 million of that amount since the program’s inception in 1962.

“The University of Houston is an important asset to the region and to employers such as ExxonMobil,” said Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company. “We’re proud to match the generous contributions of our many employees around the world who received their academic training at UH.”

- Lisa Merkl, University Communication