BB&T gives $500,000 to support expansion of WFU’s Calloway School

“BB&Thas a long history of supporting the Calloway School and our programs, both financially and academically,” said Jack Wilkerson, dean of the Calloway School. “By making a financial commitment of this magnitude to a state-of-the-art learning facility, BB&T will enhance the educational experiences of Calloway School students for years to come.”

The Calloway School is the largest undergraduate program at Wake Forest. The gift from BB&T will be used to support a new 57,000-square-foot addition to Calloway Hall that will allow the school to exist in its own space for the first time in the university’s history. Currently, the school shares space with the computer science and mathematics departments.

The new three-story wing will include classroom and office space, room for group meetings and an entrepreneur center designed to foster business skills in students from all areas of study. Groundbreaking is scheduled for Oct. 4.

“We are proud to be a longtime supporter of Wake Forest and the Calloway School,” said BB&T Corporation Chief Financial Officer Scott Reed. “We recognize the positive impact that both the university and the Calloway School continue to make and we applaud its educational mission. Education has always been one of BB&T’s favorite areas in terms of community contributions.”

Since 1998, BB&T has given more than $500,000 to the Wake Forest School of Medicine. Those gifts, along with the recent commitment to the Calloway School, are applied toward the university’s $450 million capital campaign, “The Campaign for Wake Forest University: Honoring the Promise.” The campaign had its public kickoff in the spring.

To date, the university has received more than $7 million in gifts and pledges toward the $14 million needed to support the Calloway Hall expansion.

The Calloway School is ranked among the top 10 percent of undergraduate business programs in the United States. Students in the accounting program, which ranks among the top 20 programs in the nation, have scored the highest passing rate in the country on the CPA exam for two consecutive years.

More than 400 students are currently enrolled in the school, which offers four-year degrees in business, analytical finance, mathematical business and management information systems and a five-year degree program to earn a bachelor’s and master’s in accountancy. The Calloway School also offers a master’s in accountancy degree for individuals who have already earned an undergraduate degree.