For Immediate Release

Contact:
Tristan Davies
Director of University Communications
(417) 873-7276
E-mail: tdavies@drury.edu

SPRINGFIELD, Mo., November 13, 2006 — Edward Jones, the St. Louis-based financial services firm renowned for the entrepreneurial spirit of its investment representatives, has joined Crystal and John Beuerlein, chair of the Drury University Board of Trustees and a principal of Edward Jones, in a $2 million gift to establish the Edward Jones Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Drury University.

“Entrepreneurship transforms vision and passion into service for the greater good,” said Beuerlein. “By combining entrepreneurship with innovation, the Edward Jones Center will provide individuals inside existing corporations with tools to continually refresh and reinvent their organizations as markets and business environments change. The center will arm entrepreneurs from many sectors with the acumen to create new, innovative ventures.”

The purpose of the Edward Jones Center is to provide the student and executive with the dynamic skills necessary for success in a global business environment. Students will learn to cultivate innovative ideas and manage new enterprises inside and outside existing firms, and will develop effective leadership qualities. The center's vision is to become an entrepreneurship learning program of choice internationally.

“With the generosity of John and Crystal Beuerlein, as well as the gift and prestige of our association with Edward Jones, we anticipate that the Edward Jones Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation will rapidly become one of the top entrepreneurship centers in the country,” said Drury President John Sellars.

The center will significantly affect how Drury students and faculty see their work. “Innovation has always been an important part of Drury's success; Edward Jones Center participants will learn, practice and explore the skills and understanding necessary to translate good ideas into action and commerce,” said Charles Taylor, Drury Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College.

A hallmark of the center will be a Master in Business Administration program. This program will bridge business school disciplines to create a graduate-level education that is relevant to business as it is practiced. “In a traditional program, students might take marketing and economics separately,” said Robert Wyatt, director of the Breech School of Business Administration at Drury. “In our program students will explore these subjects and others in such rich, integrated business topics as competition and pricing decisions.”

“One cannot fully appreciate the global business environment from a desk chair in Missouri, and so our MBA curriculum will require an international travel component. Students will be exposed to multinational commerce and will develop professional networks that reach as far as China,” said Wyatt. Building from the international reputation of Drury ' s Students in Free Enterprise team, winner of two SIFE World Cups within the past six years, the center will actively recruit outside the U.S. in order to achieve a globally diverse student body.

Future plans for the center include non-degree executive education programs in cutting-edge learning environments. Programs will target business leaders and managers, and will address topics that impact success, viability, changing business environments and professional development. “The Edward Jones Center will provide many with the tools to make local, national and global impacts, and we encourage them to join us in exploring what we can do together,” said Sellars.

Drury University has taken the lead among private universities in the Midwest in truly integrating a liberal arts education with comprehensive professional programs. At Drury, the power of intensive faculty and staff mentoring in small-class settings creates an atmosphere of high academic expectation grounded in a supportive learning community, an ideal combination which produces leaders ready to serve in a global community. For more information, visit www.drury.edu.

Edward Jones provides financial services for individual investors in the United States and, through its affiliates, in Canada and the United Kingdom. Every aspect of the firm's business, from the types of investment options offered to the location of branch offices, is designed to cater to individual investors in the communities in which they live and work. The firm's 10,000-plus investment representatives work directly with more than 7 million clients to understand their personal goals - from college savings to retirement - and create long-term strategies for their investments which emphasize a well-balanced portfolio and a buy-and-hold strategy. Edward Jones embraces the importance of building long-term, face-to-face relationships with clients, helping them to understand and make sense of the investment options available today.

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