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Japanese corp. gives B-school $1.5 M gift

One of the largest companies in Japan is giving a $1.5 million gift to the School of Business Administration to mark the 10th anniversary of the company's privatization.

The Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Company's gift will bring professors from top Asian universities, both to teach at the University of Michigan and to expand its research on Asian finance.

School of Business Administration Dean B. Joseph White said the gift will be beneficial to the University. "We're excited about this because NTT is Japan's largest company. More Japanese people own stock in NTT than any other company," White said. "They are a very exciting partner."

White said he thinks the gift will help strengthen the Business School teaching and research in Asian finance.

"It adds to the gift of $3 million we got from Mitsui Life Insurance Corp. 5 years ago, which helped create the Mitsui center."

The money will be used for two purposes, White said.

"First, it will sponsor a competitive research grant for research in Asian financial markets. Second, the gift will support a visiting professor at the Business School every other year," he said.

E. Han Kim, director of the Mitsui Center, will be one of two co-directors of the program. Takaaki Wakasugi, of the University of Tokyo, will serve as the other co-director.

"Together, they both solicited the gift from NTT, and they will direct the teaching and research program funded by the gift," White said.