Investing in education to bolster your business: UT Arlington

[Pamela Ann Cameron]

     After reading an article from the Ft. Worth Star Telegram by Mitchell Schnurman entitled "UT Arlington is working to hit the big time in raising money," I immediately thought of planning and economic development.  The article is broadly about trying to increase donations to the university because of the decline in state funding.  The university also has set a goal to become a "Tier One research university," which will require lots of money.  That portion of the article is not what really interested me.

     One specific donor's gift and gift motivation is definitely applicable to the interrelationship between planning, business, education, and economic development.  A man named Nelson Claytor donated $250,000 to UT Arlington, specifically the physics department.  Mr. Claytor, president of Fresnel Technologies, donated the funds because he is interested in the university producing a "pipeline of local scientists who might work for him someday."  His company "makes lenses for motion detectors, mail-scanning equipment and other devices."  He understands the link between education and the available, trained workforce.  His company has experienced difficulty in recruiting scientists in Ft. Worth, and he wants to help solve this problem.  So, he gives money to the physics department in hopes of a long term payoff.  Interesting investment some might say, especially since he was never a student at UT Arlington.

     I think Mr. Claytor's quote sums up his forward thinking:  "Great professors start companies and their students want to work with them, and the cycle just builds on itself."  I personally believe businesses are going to have to do more in the arena of higher education funding.  Government cannot solve all the country's money woes.  The state can no longer afford to fund UT Arlington at its former level, so a local businessman steps in and helps.  I applaud Mr. Claytor and encourage other entrepreneurs to follow his lead.