Staff report
Published March 9, 2010

Entrepreneur and South Carolinian Jack Tate has agreed to donate $1 million over the next two years to the College of Charleston Foundation.

The school will match the funds, which will be used to fund two key projects in the School of Business: the new Center of Vietnamese Enterprise and the pending MBA program.

“Both of these initiatives align with the College’s new strategic plan, which seeks to establish greater connections between our academic programs and the world around us,” said President George Benson.

The Center of Vietnamese Enterprise will be housed within the Tate Center for Entrepreneurship and will create a cultural and business exchange between the college and one of the leading importers of goods into the U.S.

The funds will be used to bring Tate scholars from Vietnam to study for a year at the College. The first group of students is expected this fall.

Tate, originally from Greenville, graduated from the University of North Carolina and received his law degree from Harvard in 1969. In 1971, he opened the first Carolina Baby store. By 1997, the retail chain had grown to 70 stores, which he sold to Toys R Us.

He currently lives in Vietnam, where he is focusing on helping reduce poverty and improve health care there.