The W.P. Carey School of Business announced Wednesday that it has received a multi-million dollar supply chain software and services donation from a top information technology corporation.
The donation, from i2 Technologies, will help ASU business students studying supply chain management, said professor Craig Kirkwood.
"The i2 software that has been donated is state-of-the-art," he said. "Having it available will help provide the students in our highly ranked supply chain management programs with an even better education that exposes them to the latest in supply chain information technology."
The company's Web site boasts that it supplies its information technology to seven of the 10 Fortune magazine's top global companies. Customers of the Dallas-based company come from a wide variety of industries, such as telecommunications, aerospace, automotive and consumer packaged goods.
Kirkwood believes that the donation is the result of the school's high rankings in undergrad and graduate business studies and its internationally known faculty. He said the donation will also help ASU business students find employment upon graduation.
"The fact that i2 and IBM have selected our program as one of only four in the world to receive special attention in supply chain management shows that our excellence is recognized by leading businesses as well as the academic world," he said. "Having an excellent and highly ranked business school helps our graduates in their job placements, and it helps with the economic development of Phoenix and Arizona."
Sanjiv Sidhu, CEO of i2, was unavailable for comment.
The reporter can be reached at christian.palmer@asu.edu.
