Taipan Dr. John L. Gokongwei Jr., Director and Chairman emeritus of JG Summit Holdings, Inc., has pledged Php50M as his “golden gift” to his alma mater, the University of San Carlos .

The endowment is for the construction of a new building to house the Gokongwei Brothers School of Engineering. It is given on the occasion of the 50 th founding anniversary of JG Summit Holdings, and John Gokongwei Jr.'s 80 th birthday. The gift is made possible through the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, Inc., which was created “to help education in the Philippines .”

John Gokongwei Jr., who grew up in Cebu , started his business at the age of 15 after his father suddenly died. Remembering his elementary and high school years at USC, the tycoon says that he was “molded in the playing fields, classrooms and chapels of San Carlos .” Among several values he says he learned from the Society of the Divine Word are discipline, a love for learning and a Christian orientation.

Believing that the Philippines has a better future, Gokongwei has proposed that there must be access to short– and long–term financing, better labor management, cheaper power, better agricultural productivity management, foreign exchange management, and job creation.

His business empire and entrepreneurship have contributed towards job creation in the nation. JG Summit began in 1957 as Universal Corn Products, Inc. (now Universal Robina Corporation) and has since grown to the conglomerate that it is today. Aside from food products (Universal Robina), JG Summit includes six other core businesses namely real estate (Robinsons Land Corporation, United Industrial Corporation–Singapore), telecommunications (Digital Telecommunications Phils.), textiles (Litton Mills), petrochemicals (JG Summit Petrochemicals Corporation), air transportation (Cebu Pacific Air), and financial services (Robinsons Savings Bank, JG Summit Capital Services Corporation).

Gokongwei was recognized by the University of San Carlos for his achievements as captain of business and industry. He was bestowed the degree Doctor of Science in Business and Enterprise Development honoris causa on February 7, 2004 at Rigney Hall in the Bunzel Building of the USC Technological Center, Talamban Campus.

The conferral citation said that Dr. John Gokongwei was honored for “being a model and example to our university, the nation, and the world of what one can do and become when one dreams big and works hard to make one's dreams come true.” The Bunzel building is the current home of the USC College of Engineering.