Larry Franklin and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) are helping to raise millions for the KH EMBA Tuition Award, a permanent endowment that pays part of the tuition for non-profit organisation (NPO) executive attending the Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA (KH EMBA) programme. For the past few years, Professor Larry Franklin, adjunct professor of finance, business law and management at HKUST, has had discussions with the school on bringing executives with non-profit backgrounds into the programme. 'Such executives would bring to the classroom their visions for a better world, and provide greater diversity of opinion in the classroom,' he said. 'At the same time, they would gain cutting-edge management skills that would make them more effective in their organisations.' Tuition, however, for a quality EMBA programme like KH EMBA is often unaffordable for NPO executives and their sponsoring organisations. As a solution, Professor Franklin and HKUST have each pledged HK$1.1 million to establish the KH NPO Endowment, and they plan to raise an additional HK$2 million from alumni and faculty members so that the endowment reaches HK$4 million. At a 5 per cent payout, this will mean a permanent NPO Award of no less than HK$200,000 each year. Professor Franklin made the donation through his family's Morris S. Smith Foundation, a charitable foundation in the United States, of which he is co-trustee. His father was one of the foundation's co-founders in 1993 and, having worked in education his whole life, the senior Mr Franklin wanted to provide for education-related charitable causes. 'Teaching in the KH EMBA programme for the past 10 years has given me great satisfaction,' Professor Franklin said. 'Giving back to the programme by making this endowment gift to HKUST has given me and my family even greater satisfaction.'
