The Goizueta Foundation has announced a grant of $2.5 million to Yale University to endow a senior professorship in chemical engineering to be known as the “Roberto C. Goizueta Chair in Chemical Engineering.” The grant also will provide an endowed research fund for the faculty member receiving the appointment.
“The Roberto C. Goizueta Chair will fill a critical need for new faculty who will expand and improve teaching and research programs in chemical engineering at Yale,” Yale President Richard C. Levin said. “Distinguished faculty members will always represent the heart and soul of any great university. The addition of an important professorial chair will have a major impact on Yale engineering by expanding both the scope and the quality of current areas of teaching and research. I am truly grateful to The Goizueta Foundation for this far-sighted grant.”
Levin also paid tribute to Goizueta, a 1953 graduate of Yale College and long-time leader of The Coca Cola Company, who died in 1997, by saying: “The endowed chair is important not only for its impact on teaching but also as a tribute to the memory of one of the University’s most distinguished alumni.”
According to D. Allan Bromley, Dean of Yale Engineering, the grant will allow Yale to attract truly world-class scholars to its faculty by establishing an endowed senior professorship and accompanying research fund. The Goizueta Foundation, a private, general purpose, grant-making foundation, was established by Goizueta in 1992 to “provide ongoing financial assistance for educational, cultural, religious and charitable institutions.”
Born in Cuba, Goizueta was chairman of the board and chief executive officer of The Coca Cola Company from 1981 until his death. He created The Goizueta Foundation to, in the words of its charter, “acknowledge his indebtedness to this country and to continue the commitment to philanthropic endeavors that has symbolized the leadership of The Coca-Cola Company for more than a century.”
Goizueta received a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from Yale. In 1984, he was elected a Gordon Grand Fellow at Yale and, in 1996, he was awarded the University’s inaugural Sheffield Fellowship. Goizueta was given a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University in 1997 in honor of his outstanding leadership in the business world. At that time, Levin applauded Goizueta’s commitment to civic service and especially to educational advancement. “Through corporate and personal example in civic, educational and cultural endeavors, Roberto Goizueta has helped many to live the American dream,” Levin said.
