June 19, 2003

Contact: Dale Seuferling, KU Endowment Association, (785) 832-7334.

Former Chrysler chairman Robert J. Eaton pledges $5 million for KU engineering building

UPDATE: New KU engineering building to be dedicated at 10 a.m. Oct. 17, 2003

LAWRENCE -- Chrysler Corp. Chairman Emeritus and retired DaimlerChrysler AG Chairman Robert J. Eaton has pledged $5 million for a building that will expand the University of Kansas School of Engineering facilities, KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway announced today.

Eaton, mechanical engineering '63, will give $4 million in cash to the Kansas University Endowment Association for the building, which will be dedicated in November. The Arkansas City native also pledged an additional $1 million, to be paid over four years. The combined total is expected to be matched with $130,000 from ChevronTexaco Corp., International Paper Co. and DaimlerChrysler. The building will be named for Eaton, pending approval by the Kansas Board of Regents during its meeting June 25 and 26. The gift is among the top 10 largest single gifts received by KU Endowment.

"Bob Eaton forged his Kansas roots and KU education into a highly successful career that carried him across the world in the automotive industry," Hemenway said. "His exceptional gift is the capstone on a multi-year fund-raising effort that has made the expansion of the KU School of Engineering possible."

When completed, the 80,000-square-foot building will consolidate all academic programs -- including the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science -- into the engineering complex. The $15 million project, which will be finished in time for the fall semester, includes a multimedia classroom, several state-of-the-art instructional and computer laboratories, an atrium, the Engineering Career Services Center and the school's administrative offices. It is located at the corner of Naismith Drive and 15th Street.

"This new building, which was entirely funded through private gifts, will bring together the school's programs and foster more collaborative and interdisciplinary efforts," said Stuart R. Bell, engineering dean. "We're thrilled that Bob has helped us create an outstanding modern facility for our students and faculty members. This impressive gift builds upon vital state support for our school to establish an exceptional environment for learning and research."

The gift will count toward the $500 million goal of KU First: Invest in Excellence, the largest fund-raising campaign in KU history.

"Private gifts such as Bob Eaton's are more important now than ever before if we want KU to continue growing, especially in the face of difficult economic times -- that's what KU First is all about," said Forrest Hoglund, engineering '56 and chairman of KU First. "Bob's gift means that academic departments in the KU School of Engineering will be consolidated into one location in the engineering complex. We deeply appreciate his generosity."

Eaton said his Kansas upbringing and his experiences at the university helped shape his career.

"I have always viewed being from Kansas as positive, and the good, solid Kansas values I was raised with have served me well," he said. "My experiences at KU were critical for what I was preparing to do -- academically, culturally and socially -- especially having come from a small town. I believe that we ought to support the things that have an impact on our lives."

Eaton said his interest in engines began as a child when he took apart a Maytag washing machine and turned it into a go-cart. He tinkered with car and motorcycle engines, funding his hobby through jobs such as delivering the Arkansas City Traveler newspaper and working as a janitor and a farmhand.

"By the time I was out of high school, I had had 10 or 15 cars and motorcycles," Eaton said. "I knew I wanted to go into automotive engineering." Upon graduating from KU, Eaton joined General Motors Corp. in the Chevrolet Motor Division. He held several design and management positions, and in 1974 he was promoted to executive engineer. In 1988, he was named president of General Motors Europe.

Eaton left GM in 1992 to become vice chairman and chief operating officer of the Chrysler Corp. Nine months later he succeeded Lee C. Iacocca as chairman and CEO of the company, which was founded by Ellis native Walter P. Chrysler. In 1998, after a period of record earnings for Chrysler Corp., Eaton helped design the $76 billion merger between the company and Daimler-Benz AG. After two years as chairman of DaimlerChrysler AG, he retired in 2000.

A board member of International Paper and ChevronTexaco, Eaton is a past chairman of the National Academy of Engineering and a trustee at KU Endowment. The Kansas Alumni Association awarded him the Distinguished Service Citation in 1994. The School of Engineering honored him with its Distinguished Engineering Service Award in 1995.

Eaton lives in Naples, Fla., with his wife, Connie, a native of Burlington. Connie attended KU and in 1966 received a bachelor's degree in education from Wayne State University in Detroit. The couple has two children, Scott and Matthew.

KU Endowment is conducting KU First on behalf of KU through 2004 to raise funds for scholarships, fellowships, professorships, capital projects and program support. KU Endowment is an independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management organization for KU.