Hash family gift endows Clemson chair in sustainable development
October 22, 2010
CLEMSON, SC – October 21, 2010 – More than a decade ago, as a senior executive with one of the world’s largest engineering and construction firms, Tom Hash first embraced the concept of sustainable development. But it was the birth of his and wife Becky’s first grandchild that brought the issue home.
Bechtel Corp. adopted sustainability as one of its core values and I became very interested in it, said Hash, a 1969 Clemson University mechanical engineering graduate. The birth of our first grandchild made it personal as we thought about the future of the next generation. That’s when Becky and I began looking at how we could help jumpstart the sustainable development program.
Now, a week after their fourth grandchild joined the family, Tom and Becky Hash have made a $2 million gift to endow a chair in the field at Clemson University.
The Thomas F. Hash ’69 Endowed Chair in Sustainable Development will be the first such position in Clemson’s Center of Economic Excellence in Sustainable Development, created this year to develop new technologies to foster sustainability, protect the state’s natural resources and encourage smart growth.
This is not just a well-considered and much-appreciated gift to Clemson University, it is also a very forward-thinking investment in all our futures, said Clemson President James F. Barker. Tom and Becky Hash have a keen personal interest in environmental sustainability and in seeing that future generations will continue to enjoy the benefits of a natural world that has been intelligently and sensitively developed. Their generosity will have a lasting legacy.
Research in sustainable development focuses on areas in which the natural and built environments meet, said Gene Eidson, professor of biological sciences and the principal investigator of the new center. The result of that research will be tools, products and services to better monitor, manage and protect the environment while allowing for continued economic growth and development, he said.
The Hash endowment will permanently fund a faculty position in Clemson’s College of Engineering and Science, although the center resides in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The very nature of this field requires an interdisciplinary approach and close cooperation, Eidson said. To pull together the right people to address the very complex problems of environmental sustainability will take a number of faculty from diverse backgrounds. The only way to make that approach work is to have people in different colleges work together, and that is something we have to build in from the start.
The Clemson chair is not the Hash family’s first investment in the field of sustainability. Tom and Becky, a 1967 Furman University graduate, also contributed to the David E. Shi Center for Sustainability at her alma mater before turning their attention to Clemson.
Tom got interested in sustainability through his job and started becoming involved at Clemson. Then we heard about Furman’s program and decided we could have an impact in both places, she said. In addition to wanting to give back to our universities, we felt that sustainability was important to future generations and our own children and grandchildren.
As a Center of Economic Excellence (CoEE), the sustainable research program gift is matched by $2 million in state funds. The CoEE program was established by the South Carolina General Assembly in 2002 and is funded through the South Carolina Education Lottery. State and private funds are matched dollar-for-dollar to create Centers of Economic Excellence in research areas that will advance South Carolina’s economy.
Hash said he would like to see others pick up the torch and expand the program. I would like to see the center grow and include more endowed chairs, Tom Hash said. A single chair is just a start. To bloom into a meaningful center you need multiple endowed chairs. CU-ICAR (Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research) is an example. You see what kind of impact can be made when you have the benefit of a significant team working together.
We have a very high level of confidence in the leadership at Clemson and believe that they will do good things with the gifts they receive, he said. You can throw money at things and get no results, but we felt that an investment in Clemson would pay dividends. Jim Barker’s leadership has been amazing. Because of this, I am certain our gifts achieve results.
A native of Johnston, S.C., Becky Hash began her teaching career in Greenville and continued to teach in Virginia and Ohio. After a 26-year career with construction giant Babcock & Wilcox Co., Tom Hash joined Bechtel in 1996, retiring in 2007. Originally from Easton, Md., he continues to consult with a venture capital firm in New York and is on the board of advisors of the South Carolina Research Authority in Charleston.
The Hashes divide their time between homes in Annapolis, Md., and Chapin, S.C. They have three children and the four grandchildren.
Their gift is part of The Will to Lead capital campaign, a multi-year effort to raise at least $600 million to support Clemson University students and faculty with scholarships, professorships and enhanced learning and research opportunities with top facilities and technology.
