Brown Foundation Provides $1.5 Million To Endow Chair

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Brown Foundation Inc. of Houston will provide $1.5 million to the University of Arkansas to improve English literacy in Arkansas by establishing an outreach chair.

The Brown Chair in English Literacy will be housed in the English department and is designed to increase the reading and writing competency of Arkansas’ high school graduates through a UA faculty-coordinated program of summer workshops and graduate-assistant tutoring in high schools across the state. A search for the chairholder, who will oversee the program and be a full-time member of the English faculty, will soon get under way. Funds from the endowed chair will supplement community-based student tutoring, professional development workshops, administrative support and materials.

The program is expected to pave the way to better job skills, higher income levels and more state residents earning a living wage as the result of acquiring improved literacy skills.

"We are grateful to the Brown Foundation for their support of this important outreach initiative," said UA Chancellor John A. White. "Our mission at the University of Arkansas is to engage in teaching, research and service. The Brown Chair in English Literacy will work to ensure that every high school student graduates and that, upon graduation, every student can read and write competitively. I can think of no better way to serve the state of Arkansas than through a commitment to its children. The Brown Program, made possible through the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, supports our vision of a nationally competitive, student-centered research university serving Arkansas and the world."

Robert Brinkmeyer, chair of the UA English department, said, "The Brown Chair in Literacy will bring great benefit not only to the University of Arkansas but also the people of Arkansas. Not only will the Brown Chair be active on campus and in the Honors College, but he or she will also head up a program involving UA students and public school teachers working together to help students with reading problems. We envision the University of Arkansas, through the work of the Brown Chair, becoming an important resource and leader in the State’s efforts to make sure that all Arkansans can read effectively."

Patrick Slattery, an associate professor of English who helped craft the proposal to the Brown Foundation, said, "Because of the generosity of the Brown Foundation, the University of Arkansas will now be able to take additional responsibility for developing the economy of Arkansas and for enhancing the quality of life of the state’s citizens by implementing the Brown Program in English Literacy. Annually, approximately 400 Arkansas high school students will benefit from approximately 2,000 contact hours with a tutor. Tutors for the Brown Program will be carefully selected from the Graduate Assistants enrolled in the M.A., M.F.A., and Ph.D. Programs in English. The grant from the Brown Foundation will provide travel and teaching stipends for the tutors."

The Brown Foundation Inc. was founded in July 1951 by Herman and Margarett Root Brown and George R. and Alice Pratt Brown. Since its inception it has awarded more than $800 million in grants through the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002. Of these funds, approximately 80 percent were awarded within the State of Texas with special emphasis on the city of Houston.

The Brown Foundation’s gift will be counted toward The $300 Million Challenge, the campaign-within-a-campaign to raise $300 million for academic programs to match the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation’s $300 million gift. Challenge funds must be raised between Jan. 1, 2002, and June 30, 2005, the end of the Campaign. The Campaign goal is to raise $900 million, of which $693.6 million has been raised as of Feb. 28, 2003. The Challenge total stands at $83 million.