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McIntire Receives $5 Million from Philip Morris USA

The McIntire School of Commerce announced Feb. 9, 2007, that it will receive $5 million from Philip Morris USA, part of a $25 million gift the Richmond-based corporation is making to the University.

The gift—the largest single corporate gift received by the University since it publicly launched its $3 billion campaign for the University last September—will create a partnership between the two organizations that will support independent research in a number of key areas in which they share a common interest.

Some $20 million of the total gift will support research and projects in the School of Medicine, including an innovative collaboration between the School of Medicine and McIntire that will seek ways to help prevent youth smoking, improve the effectiveness of smoking-cessation efforts, and reduce the harm caused by smoking. Additional research is expected to increase scientific knowledge of the psychological and physiological basis of addictions and to foster a clearer understanding of the genesis and progression of diseases related to smoking.

McIntire will use the remaining $5 million to conduct research and enhance programs in the areas of leadership development, recruitment, and critical business issues expected to arise in the future.

“This extraordinary gift will facilitate our efforts to build our programs, particularly in areas that are also of interest to Philip Morris,” said McIntire Dean Carl Zeithaml. “The gift will also provide us with an opportunity to work in collaboration with the Medical School on groundbreaking research that will focus on the marketing, advertising, and communication programs around the prevention of smoking, particularly in young people. This research should provide us with important lessons that will limit the adverse impacts of smoking, and also will provide lessons for many other industries.”

“We believe this partnership has the potential to make significant progress on reducing the harm associated with cigarettes and could yield great benefits to society,” said Mike Szymanczyk, Chairman and CEO of Philip Morris USA. “We are proud to be able to play a constructive role in this campaign and to expand our longstanding relationship with this great University.”

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