Mississippi State University has moved a “giant step forward in academic support” according to Donald Zacharias, president of MSU, with the help of poultry industry executive Joe Frank Sanderson.

The 1947 MSU graduate from Laurel has donated $1 million to promote excellence in the College of Business and Industry and the College of Arts and Sciences. The money will be given equally to the two largest academic divisions on campus as challenge grants.

The colleges will then have three years in which to match the $500,000 with other contributions and establish full $1 million endowments to promote excellence in teaching, research and service within the schools.

Money earned on the Joe Frank and Ann Sanderson Fund for Excellence will be used for a variety of academic enhancers including support for outstanding faculty members and student scholarships. The funds may also be used to purchase supplies and equipment, renovate teaching facilities or support lectures, concerts and art displays.

“This money will lead to many opportunities to promote excellence in a number of ways within the university,” Zacharias said.

Dennis Leyden, dean of the College of Business and Industry, said the gift will allow the college to support and improve selected programs. “This is a major opportunity for the College of Business and Industry to facilitate excellence in its programs,” Leyden said. “We’re delighted that Mr. Sanderson has given us this opportunity.”

Gifts, such as the Sanderson’s, give administrators more flexibility within their schools, according to Lida Barrett, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “We will be able to apply this gift in various ways to give the college a boost,” Barrett said. Sanderson said he was pleased to support the assortment of excellent programs at MSU.

“My wife and I had long wanted to make a significant gift to the university,” Sanderson said. “We have felt that private gifts truly give the university an edge in achieving and maintaining excellence. We wanted to enhance programs at the university and provide some help to the young people of Mississippi.”

Zacharias described the Sandersons as generous with their love, loyalty and support for MSU for many years. “This endowment for excellence will help the university prepare for the future,” he said.

Sanderson is the chairman of the board of Sanderson Farms, Inc. and a past president of the MSU Development Foundation. Mrs. Sanderson graduated from Millsaps College in Jackson, but was an enthusiastic supporter of MSU.