Walmart chairman, wife donate $27.5 million to ASU

[obey]

Source: AZCENTRAL.COM

Arizona State University's Global Institute of Sustainability has received a $27.5 million gift from the Rob and Melani Walton Fund of the Walton Family Foundation.

ASU said it will use the money to address problems and create solutions in areas such as energy, water, climate, urbanization, social transformation and decision-making.

The Waltons' gift will help fund four sustainability-related initiatives: train practitioners and educate youth; create a seed fund for sustainability research; build an international sustainability network; and launch a fellowship program that trains scholars, government and non-government individuals.

Rob Walton, who is chairman of the board of Walmart, said he wants the investment to help create programs that continuously evolve and have have long-term economic viability.

President Michael M. Crow (left)
with Melani and Rob Walton.





Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2012/03/29/20120329walmart-chairman-wife-donate-million-asu.html

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YOIKS!!

[rfranklin]

1. What a studly guy! She must really, really be hot for him!

Ya think?

[SDjack]

2. She's on borrowed time. Any day, he trading for the trophy wife. n/t

[whathehell]

7. I thought she WAS the trophy wife...

I dunno...She looks better than he does.

[TrollBuster9090]

13. Hey, even Newt Gingrich has gone through THREE, and he's only worth a few million. nt

[benld74]

3. Guys like him ALWAYS want something with THEIR name on it.

Makes them forget about all the crap the caused in the past and so future students, who dont know the story about Walmart, can then think they were REALLY SWELL guys.

[TrollBuster9090]

4. Hey, if it worked for the Rockafellers, the Carnegies, and the Rhodes'....

But seriously...who besides Dennis Hopper and Newt Gingrich brings a blow up doll to a party???


By the way, isn't Arizona State University the University that invited Obama to speak to the graduating class of 2009, but voted NOT to give him an honorary PhD on the grounds that he hadn't achieved anything yet? I'm thinking the donation, specifically to THIS university was more about that than about the research.

[wendylaroux]

5. YIKES!!!

That woman just scared the sh1t out of me. Lordy.

[aquart]

6. These people are insufficiently taxed.

[bikeboy]

8. 0. Walmart chairman, wife donate $27.5 million to ASU

For those of us concerned about public education through out the country...being you a parent, teacher, administrator or school board member...please read "TFA"... (Teach for America) the modern approach to the privatization of public education by the wealthiest of the American population. The Gate's and Walton's foundations ect.

As some one that has spent countless hours volunteering to make the pubic education system better at many levels in an urban school district of 29,000 students, 80 different languages spoken at home and 61% free or reduced lunch. I am concerned about the retention rate of TFA teachers. Many of the TFA teachers are placed in low income schools at low pay. They also tend to leave after three years leaving the school they worked in without the program rationalization that made their class work because it was "teach for America" propitiatory information. They don't play well with others is my long term experience.

A serious number of TFA do not teach past 3 years. Many TFA teachers use it a s a spring-board to the corporate world, kind of like the modern Peace Corp, only domestic.

Public education needs more at this time and we need to respect those that make a career out of it. The public institution and teachers need to be funded for the good of us all and I think that would also lure some of the TFA prospects into longer term engagement in the profession.

[Arugula Latte]

9. Aw, that's sweet. She's with her Grampa.

Oh, wait...

[Cleita]

11. Or she has a really great plastic surgeon! n/t

[TrollBuster9090]

14. At first I thought it said "Walmart Chairman Donates Wife to ASU..."

As he trades her in for this year's model.

[Throd]

10. Good for them.

Seems like a good thing to me.

[Cleita]

12. What exactly are they sustaining?

It seems like another Institute for promoting a RW agenda especially since it's in Arizona, the Tea Party's new winger state.

[TrollBuster9090]

15. As I said above, this is the university that stiffed Obama in 2009

by inviting him to talk to the graduating class, but then snubbing him by not giving the President an honorary degree, which would be the normal procedure.

Check out the story: ASU Stiffs Obama, Claims Too Inexperienced For An Honorary Degree

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dawn-teo/asu-stiffs-obama-claim-to_b_185296.html


Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart did a pretty good job on ASU for that one, too. The ASU Board of Governors claimed he hadn't done anything to deserve an honorary degree yet. Colbert and Stewart pointed out that just his being the first black president should have been enough, given that they gave Kim Campbell, the first female Prime Minister of Canada an honorary degree even though she was never elected PM (got the job after Brian Mulroney resigned), and only served for a month or two before losing badly in the election.

[alp227]

17. i thought academia=the last line of defense against the corporate noise machine.

sadly, the Kochs and Waltons are invading academia and turning universities into corporate front groups. Universities are supposed to be independent academic agents that do research and make evidence-based, reasoned scholarship.

[santamargarita]

16. A 27 million dollar color chart for racial profiling!