114 MTSU ALUMNUS COMMITS $1 MILLION TO UNIVERSITY’S ATHLETICS AND ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

Oct. 9, 2006

CONTACT: Tom Tozer, 615-898-5131

MURFREESBORO—Bob McLean, local philanthropist and Middle Tennessee State University graduate (’72 B.S.), has committed $1 million to the MTSU Foundation to enhance both academics and athletics at the state’s largest undergraduate university. McLean presented the check to MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee during Friday evening’s football game between the MTSU Blue Raiders and the Louisville Cardinals in Nashville’s LP Field.
McLean said he made this commitment to show the importance of both athletics and academics.
“I know that this fine university has the talent and vision to pursue excellence in both these areas of college life,” McLean noted. “Well-rounded graduates and future employees need a well-rounded, educational foundation. I have been impressed with the direction and significant achievements of MTSU, and I am convinced that even more remarkable achievements in athletics and academics lie ahead.”
“Bob McLean’s extremely generous gift that emphasizes both academics and athletics represents the totality of what a university should be,” McPhee said. “We are grateful beyond measure to Bob for his commitment to Middle Tennessee State University. This will affect the lives of thousands of students and many faculty for generations to come.”
McLean, principal of McLean & Company Investments and longtime friend and supporter of his alma mater, established MTSU’s School of Music as part of the national and international landscape in 2002 when his $1.5 million donation provided for the purchase of 54 Steinway pianos. Earning the designation as an “All Steinway School,” MTSU joined a select company that included The Juilliard School, Oberlin College Conservatory, Vassar College, the University of Melbourne Faculty of Music and Beijing’s China Conservatory of Music.
A year later, McPhee announced the newly named MTSU Robert W. McLean School of Music. “We are delighted and honored to put Bob McLean’s name on our School of Music,” the president said at that time.

“I believe that MTSU is the single most important asset in this community,” McLean responded. “If you look at all of the things it adds to this region—the economic impact, the cultural benefits, the access to education—you see the impact it makes on the quality of people’s lives.
“I sincerely hope that others will follow my lead and support this great university that has contributed so much to so many,” he added.
Chairman of the board of the McLean Family Charitable Fund, McLean also is an avid supporter of the Blue Raider Athletic Association, the KA Memorial Scholarship, the Chuck Taylor Golf Tournament, the John T. Bragg Sr. Scholarship and the Presidential Scholarship program. He is the namesake of the Robert W. McLean Distinguished Assistant Professor Award in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business and is a member of the Jones College Advisory Board. In addition, he serves as an MTSU Foundation trustee and is a member of the Board of Officers of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Recently, McLean produced the feature film “Our Very Own,” a story about his hometown of Shelbyville, Tenn.

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