Rob Walton, son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, former chairman of the retail giant, is donating to Arizona State University (ASU), the largest donation in the institution’s 140-year history. These funds will support a new school dedicated to protecting and providing training, education and career opportunities. “Students bring new ideas, energy and innovation,” Walton said in a statement. “Through research, advocacy or field surveys, they gain the skills to drive real change through participation.”
The donation will protect the future of the future at ASU’s new name to Rob Walton in Rob Walton Global Futures. Walton’s Gift will also provide funding for the school’s president, create three research and education professor positions, and launch a scholarship fund.
The school, which will open at the end of the year, will provide protection training programs for high school students, workers and executives, issue certificates for organizations and government agencies, and expand workforce opportunities in the field. Over time, it will add graduate and undergraduate degree programs.
“By turning conservation education into a thriving planetary future, this new academic entity is not only maintaining the ecosystem, but is developing adaptive solutions to ensure sustainable pathways for future generations,” Peter Schlosser, vice president of ASU’s Global Futures College, said in a statement.
The Waltons’ charitable legacy
Walton, 80, has an estimated net worth of $123.1 billion. He served as chairman of Arkansas retailers from 1992 to 2015, during which time he followed company conservation strategies, including working with international conservation international companies to achieve sustainability goals such as reducing waste in Walmart’s global operations.
This is not the first protection-related gift Walton gave to ASU. In 2012, Walton and his wife Melani donated $27.5 million to drive sustainable development plans, and the figure grew to $31.8 million in 2019. Later, ASU was named the Honorary Planetary Medical Institution.
Walton’s philanthropy is part of a broader family tradition. The Walton family is the richest family in the United States, and it is made through most of the donations from the Walton Family Foundation, founded by Sam Walton in the 1980s. The foundation focused on education, environmental programs and regional developments in northwestern Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta, allocating nearly $550 million in grants last year.
His brothers and sisters, both of them, have also done major charitable activities. Jim Walton made headlines in 2019 with a $1.2 billion Walmart stock donation, the biggest gift of the year. Alice Walton has provided more than $1.5 billion in funding to the arts and founded institutions such as Crystal Bridges American Art.
