Foundation For Enterprise Development Awards Rutgers’ School of Management and Labor Relations Gift to Study Employee Ownership of Companies

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The Foundation for Enterprise Development has made a $150,000 gift to Rutgers’ School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR) to recognize the school’s leadership in the growing worldwide network of employee ownership researchers and practitioners supported by the foundation. The gift will support scholars in the field of employee ownership.

The foundation was established by Dr. J. Robert Beyster, a nuclear physicist and entrepreneur. In 1969, he started San Diego-based Science Application International Corp., a high-technology company that now employs more than 40,000 workers. Beyster was chair and CEO for 35 years until his retirement several years ago. He was one of the earliest business leaders in the technology industry to pioneer the sharing of profits, equity and stock options with broad groups of employees. Mary Ann Beyster, his daughter, manages the foundation.

In commenting on the Rutgers gift, Mary Ann Beyster said, “For 20 years, School of Management and Labor Relations Professors Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse, nationally recognized experts on employee ownership and profit sharing, have explored the link between shared capitalism and company performance. We want to provide significant support to these studies that have tremendous implications for the future of the corporation in a democratic society.” 

The gift will provide funds to support SMLR professors, a doctoral fellowship, a visiting professor and doctoral student to study employee ownership as Beyster Fellows. “We are delighted to receive this support from the Beysters and their foundation,” said SMLR Dean David Finegold. “It is recognition of the unparalleled level of expertise that the school has in the area of employee ownership. With their support, we will be able to extend this expertise even further, developing the next generation of scholars in the field.”

Added Dr. J. Robert Beyster, “Rutgers has become the unquestioned leader in the field of research on employee ownership. This research has not only helped reshape how academics think about the workplace but has had a dramatic impact on how employee ownership has evolved in this country and worldwide, and become an important tool of corporate leaders and entrepreneurs, especially those who have intentionally not utilized venture capital in developing and growing their companies.”