Jindal, his firm gift $2.5 million to University of Texas

Industrialist and Member of Parliament Naveen Jindal and his company Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. (JSPL) have gifted US$ 2.5 million (about Rs. 122.5 million) to his alma mater, University of Texas at Dallas, following which the university renamed its school of management after him. Jindal, a 1992 batch alumnus, gifted $200,000 from his personal fortune while JSPL gave $2.3 million, the company said in a statement.

The university had said last week that Jindal, along with two other alumni, “contributed a combined gift of $30 million, the largest alumni gift in the university’s history.” Asked about reports of Jindal and his firm making a gift of $20 million to the university, the company said they had only given $2.5 million.

The JSPL statement said both Jindal and the firm “will contribute in future too” as this “will support Indian students through creation of scholarships and fellowships”. Employees of JSPL and its associate firms would be eligible for executive programmes at the university, the statement said. “The company’s contribution has been approved by board of directors, given JSPL’s commitment to education,” it added.

Source: The Indian Express, October 17, 2011

University of Texas names business studies institute after Naveen Jindal

In a first for an Indian, the University of Texas at Dallas has decided to name its School of Management after Indian industrialist Parliamentarian, Naveen Jindal. Jindal will not only be the first Indian to get such an honour, but also becomes the first alumni from India of an American University to have an educational institution named after him.

According to the university officials, the honour is in recognition of Jindal’s exceptional distinction in the fields of entrepreneurship and public service, for his reputation for honesty, personal integrity and high standards of personal and professional character. The recognition will also lead to the establishment of the Naveen Jindal Institute for Indo-American Business Studies.

Jindal earned his MBA from UT Dallas in 1992. He was the UT Dallas Student Government President and got the Student Leader of the year award while studying at the university.

“It’s very important to build institutions of higher learning. I am honoured that UTD decided to name the School of Management after me,” said Jindal, Chairman and Managing Director of Jindal Steel and Power Limited . “My vision and desire is that the Naveen Jindal School of Management becomes the school of choice for some of the brightest and best individuals who will truly lead us into the next generation, leaders who will truly embrace the global vision and balance the needs of the people with the environment in an ethical and sustainable manner.”

The Naveen Jindal School of Management will offer full-time, part-time and executive MBA programmes apart from enhancing faculty research productivity.

Source: The Times of India, October 7, 2011

>University of Texas endowment takes $1 billion in bullion

>The University of Texas Investment Management, the second-largest U.S. academic endowment, took delivery of almost $1 billion in gold bullion as the metal reaches a record, according to the fund’s board.

The fund, whose $19.9 billion in assets ranked it behind Harvard University’s endowment as of August, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers, last year added about $500 million in gold investments to an existing stake, said Bruce Zimmerman, the endowment’s chief executive officer. The holdings reached about $987 million on Saturday, as Comex futures closed at $1,486 an ounce.

The decision to turn the fund’s investment into gold bars was influenced by Kyle Bass, a Dallas hedge fund manager and member of the endowment’s board, Zimmerman said on Saturday at its annual meeting. Bass made $500 million on the US subprime-mortgage collapse.

“Central banks are printing more money than they ever have, so what’s the value of money in terms of purchases of goods and services,” Bass said on Sunday in a telephone interview. “I look at gold as just another currency that they can’t print any more of.”

Gold reached an all-time high of $1,489.10 an ounce today in New York as sovereign debt concerns boosted demand for the metal as a store of value. Gold has climbed 28% in the past year on Comex.

The endowment, which oversees funds held by the University of Texas System and Texas A&M University, has 6,643 bars of bullion, or 664,300 ounces, in a Comex-registered vault in New York owned by HSBC Holdings, the London-based bank, according to a report distributed at Saturday’s meeting in Austin.

Source: The Financial Express, April 18, 2011