Giving News

Tennessee Tech to Receive $1 Million Gift From McDonald Estate

Tennessee Tech alumnus Earl McDonald knew the value of an education and hard work. In addition, he was a living example of a true philanthropist. As a testament to this, the university will soon benefit from one of the largest single cash bequests it has received. Tennessee Tech will receive $1 million for the College of Business from McDonald's estate.

McDonald, who passed away in May, was born in 1913 in Huntsville, TN, the third of four children. After completing his elementary and high school education in Hutsville, he finished one year at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, qualifying him to teach school. He taught third grade for one year in Huntsville which provided him with the funds he needed to enter Tennessee Tech. In 1937, Earl left the university with a degree in business management and went to work for Southern Continental Telephone Company where he worked during college. After one year working for the phone company in Cookeville, he transferred to Fayette, Alabama, where he would spend most of the rest of his life.

Earl, who never took a sick day during his almost 50-year career in the telephone business, held many positions including accountant, secretary-treasurer, board member, vice president, and president. As McDonald advanced at various companies the stock aquisitions that accompanied his advancement made him a wealthy man. Despite his professional accomplishments, Earl considered his greatest achievement to be the 54-year marriage to his wife Thela Terry McDonald, who passed away in 1993.

Earl and Thela shared their wealth with many charitable organizations, giving away almost $16 million during their lifetimes. The bequest gift to Tech is not the first gift Earl made to the university. In 1996 McDonald donated $1 million to establish scholarships for worthy students. This estate gift ensures that Earl McDonald's legacy will live on in the lives of the students his generosity continues to benefit.

Throughout his philanthropic activities, Earl never sought fame, fortune, or notoriety, and he lived a simple, unassuming life valuing education, hard work and love.

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TTU Alumnus Dr. John M. Clayton Receives Regents Award for Philanthropy

The Tennessee Board of Regents selected TTU alumnus Dr. John M. Clayton as the latest recipient of the TBR Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Philanthropy.

In his own words, Dr. Clayton feels “strongly about the importance of higher education and what it can do for the lives of students who receive it.” Until his retirement in August 2005, as senior vice president for Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at Schering-Plough HealthCare Products in Memphis, Dr. Clayton was responsible for research and development, regulatory affairs, toxicology, clinical research, and prescription-to-over-the-counter drug transformation programs.

After graduating from Tennessee Tech in 1968, Dr. Clayton earned his doctoral degree in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Tennessee Medical Unit, trained at the University of Uppsala in Sweden, and completed a postdoctoral research program at Pomona College. He served as a research biologist at the FDA National Center for Toxicological Research and held an adjunct assistant professorship in pharmacology at the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences before joining Schering-Plough in 1974.

Dr. Clayton currently serves as a member of the TTU College of Arts and Sciences Board of Visitors and on the TTU Health Science Pre-Professional Advisory Board. He earned the TTU Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999.

Dr. Clayton provided funding, along with support from Schering-Plough, for the creation of a 21st Century Multimedia Chemistry Classroom which was dedicated in the spring of 2006. In an effort to improve safety and air quality in Foster Hall (Chemistry Building), Clayton’s most recent contributions include the renovation of the Organic Chemistry Lab’s Equipment Room. In 1997, he founded the Chemistry Laboratory Teaching Fund (CheLaTe) to upgrade and modernize instrumentation used in undergraduate chemistry laboratories, and has spearheaded efforts to raise money for the fund. Clayton’s personal contributions and those of Schering Plough directly impact programs having an annual enrollment of more than 2,500 students taking Chemistry classes at Tennessee Tech.

He has also taken his support one visionary step further by initiating the Faculty Enrichment Fund in the department to restore travel funding in support of faculty development. In the words of former Chemistry Department Chairperson Dr. Scott Northrup, “Dr. John Clayton is a great friend of TTU's Chemistry Department. His generous gifts have allowed our department to continue to move forward, make innovations, dream dreams, and keep our optimism even in tight budget times. The mere mention of the name "Clayton" is a morale booster for our faculty.”