Clemson business college receives $2.5M Sprouse gift

The fastest growing college at Clemson University, the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business, has received a $2.5M commitment from alumnus David Sprouse, class of 1961, and Sandra Sprouse to endow faculty positions in two foundational disciplines.

The Sprouses answered the call of the Power of One challenge to create an endowed chair for the John E. Walker Department of Economics, according to a news release. They funded a distinguished professorship in financial management, becoming Clemson University’s most recent Academic Cornerstone Partners.

The David W. Sprouse ’61 Endowed Chair in Economics and the David W. Sprouse ’61 Distinguished Professorship in Financial Management is intended to raise the bar and support the development of empowered future business leaders, driving innovative business research and expanding educational and economic impact by transforming lives statewide and beyond, according to the release.

“We are very thankful for David and Sandra’s investment in our faculty,” Brian O’Rourke, vice president of advancement, said in the release. “Their love of learning and their belief in education is reflected in their Cornerstone gift, which will impact every generation of Clemson business students going forward. We are fiercely grateful for their unwavering support and longstanding dedication to Clemson University.”

David Sprouse excelled from the pitcher’s mound at Clemson to textile mills across the east coast and later as a real estate developer and stock options investor, the release stated. He studied textile management at Clemson and, immediately upon graduation, started work in the industry that his Slater native parents had worked in all their lives. Along the way, he rose in leadership and met his wife Sandra Jean Motley, a Duke alumna and French language teacher. Together, they would move a handful of times for opportunities for David before settling in South Carolina close to Clemson after he retired from the textile industry.

However, that retirement was short-lived as the Sprouses soon combined their skills to build two successful real estate developments.

Their commitment to Clemson has deepened over the years. Their belief in Clemson’s mission to advance higher education in South Carolina is what inspired the Sprouses to make both this Academic Cornerstone gift as well as a previous gift to athletics including the David and Sandra Sprouse Team Room in Doug Kingsmore Stadium and also a significant future gift in the form of an estate plan for Clemson that will create the David W. Sprouse ’61 Baseball Scholarship Endowment and increase their existing Financial Management distinguished professorship to an endowed chair level.