10 Million Dollar Gift Gives School Of Education New Name And New Focus

Oct. 18, 2002

Lake City native Darla Moore and her husband, Richard Rainwater, have given $10 million to the University to enhance its educational leadership and teacher education programs. The gift, the largest from an individual in university history, is in honor of her father. The school will be named the Eugene T. Moore School of Education.

“Even if he were not my father, I would find it appropriate to see his name attached to a school of education, where many of the nation’s future teachers and principals will launch their careers,” said Darla Moore, a partner in the private investment firm Rainwater Inc. “He has played an important role in the lives of many young people in this state.”

Eugene T. Moore is a 1949 graduate of Clemson University who has committed his adult life to education as a teacher, coach and principal in Florence County.

The gift will change the way the University prepares school principals, teachers and other education leaders and impact the educational system of South Carolina. The endowment will establish two endowed chair positions in educational leadership, the program that prepares school administrators, and two endowed professorships in teacher education, the program that prepares classroom teachers. The endowment also will provide for graduate assistantships and the redesign of educational leadership and teacher quality curricula.

University President Jim Barker said it is especially appropriate that the key initiative of the $10 million endowment will be to prepare future generations of school principals and leaders.

“Gene Moore has had a remarkable impact on the lives of young people,” Barker said. “He has been a leader on the sporting fields at Clemson, in the Army and in the Lake City schools and community. His legacy as an educational leader will continue through the Eugene T. Moore School of Education and in the countless lives it will influence in the generations to come.”

Clemson University will collaborate with school districts and the South Carolina Department of Education to redesign the university’s educational leadership curriculum. The redesign team will be led by two nationally recognized scholars. The plan also calls for developing leadership partnerships with key stakeholders in public education.

“There is a tremendous need across the country for effective school leadership, especially for effective principals,” said Linda Gambrell, director of the Eugene T. Moore School of Education. “We are honored to have a school named for someone so distinguished as an educational leader.”

A recent plan to redesign the University’s educational leadership program, in collaboration with the S.C. Department of Education, earned the School of Education a position in a new program of the Southern Regional Education Board network to improve school leadership. Clemson is one of four institutions of higher education to be funded for the project.

The Eugene T. Moore School of Education will pursue its leadership objectives by working with other organizations, such as the Upstate Alliance, the Strom Thurmond Institute, the National Dropout Prevention Center and the Palmetto Institute, an independent non-profit organization chaired by Darla Moore with a goal of creating a business, political and educational environment that increases the wealth of every person in South Carolina.

Clemson also plans to put more resources into existing programs and positions aimed at improving teacher quality and increasing student achievement, including the two endowed professorships. The school will recruit a pair of scholars of national reputation to enhance the teacher quality program.

The Eugene T. Moore School of Education, which is in the College of Health, Education and Human Development, produces more undergraduate-trained teachers than any other institution in South Carolina.

“These efforts will focus on educational leadership, teacher quality and school performance in South Carolina and the nation,” Gambrell said. “It will be the heart of our educational leadership and teacher preparation programs and will aid school principals and teachers in acquiring the skills and content needed for effective education in today’s schools.”

The educational leadership program offers a master of education degree, which leads to certification as a principal and instructional supervisor; an education specialist degree, which leads to certification as a superintendent; and a Ph.D., which provides advanced study of educational leadership in either K-12 or higher education.