U. of South Carolina Names Business School for ‘Toughest Babe’

The University of South Carolina has named its business school for the woman whom Fortune magazine recently called “the toughest babe in business.”

This week, the university officially dedicates the Darla Moore School of Business. In doing so, it becomes the first major university to name a business school for a woman.

Ms. Moore, who graduated from the university in 1976 with a degree in political science, has pledged $25-million to the school. The gift will be paid over the next four years.

She made a name for herself in the banking industry in the 1980s and now runs Rainwater Inc., an investment company in Fort Worth, Tex., founded by her husband, Richard Rainwater. The company’s assets total about $1.5-billion.

Ms. Moore is flattered that her alma mater is naming its business school for her. But more significant, she says, is that such a designation is occurring in her home state, which, she notes, is “not necessarily known for its progressiveness.”

“This is the most conservative part of the country, a state that has the Citadel, a state where we still fly the Confederate flag, and Strom Thurmond is the dominant political force,” she says. “And what do they do but name their crown jewel after a woman?”

The gift was sought last fall by Hugh McColl, chief executive officer of NationsBank, and W.W. Johnson, chairman of the bank’s executive committee. Both men are South Carolinians, and Mr. Johnson is chairman of the university’s $300-million capital campaign.

It wasn’t a hard sell. “I have had the good fortune to benefit from the capitalist system,” Ms. Moore says. “Those of us who have been so fortunate are obligated to return some of the fruits of that system.”