J.B. Fuqua.gift Upgrades School's Computers

Thanks to the generosity of J.B. Fuqua, MBA students and executive education participants have moved into the next generation of computing. A.gift of $266,000 from Mr. Fuqua has purchased 75 new IBM 166 Pentium computers for the School. By the time MBA students returned to campus in August, 51 of the computers had been installed in the Keller Center in east wing classrooms, team rooms and the second-floor computer lab. The remaining 24 computers were installed in breakout rooms in the Thomas Center.

According to Brian Eder, assistant director of Fuqua's Computer Services Center (CSC), who headed the installation team, "On the day we installed the final computer, no MBA program in the country had a better computing platform." John Gallagher, CSC director, calls the new computing platform "a great package that offers students both state-of-the-art hardware and Windows 95 as our standard operating system."

The Pentiums run applications much faster than the 486 series machines they replaced. They dramatically enhance graphic displays, support CD-ROM applications and provide multimedia capabilities that are enhanced by a number of new speakers. Meanwhile the new computers continue to support Windows 3.1. For MBA day students, 14-inch monitors have been replaced with 15-inch monitors. Executive Education machines in the Thomas Center are scheduled to receive 17-inch monitors to enhance group use.

The new computers began to return dividends quickly. The ILE 3 program for second-year students was based on a computer simulation that demanded the capabilities of the new system. A wave of student thank-you notes to Mr. Fuqua testified to the improvements of the system and to the convenience of matching the School's systems to their home configurations, many of which already have Windows 95.

Dean Rex Adams takes a broad view of the new installation: "Our new computing platform helps us to stay in the front ranks of business schools in the use of technology in management education," he said. "Mr. Fuqua's.gift reflects not only his continuing generosity and commitment to the School, but also his wisdom about the direction and challenges facing the next generation of business leaders."