HPU links courses to La-Z-Boy duo
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, February 10, 2003
High Point — High Point University has renamed its home furnishings program the Knabusch-Shoemaker International School of Home Furnishings and Design, in memory of the late La-Z-Boy founders and recliner inventors, Edward M. Knabusch and Edwin J. Shoemaker.
The program's new home will be Patrick H. Norton Hall, now under construction on the campus. Norton is La-Z-Boy's current chairman.
"I've been in fund-raising for over 30 years and I don't know of any organization to adopt a college or university the way La-Z-Boy has with High Point University and the furniture program," said John Lefler, HPU's vice president of institutional advancement. "It's not the amount of money, which is substantial and generous, that makes this relationship so special, but how many years such a large number of people have contributed."
The support falls into three categories:
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The Patrick H. Norton Scholarship Fund, now at $500,000, which has awarded scholarships to 48 students since it was established in 1992 by La-Z-Boy stores, sales representatives and senior staff to honor Norton on his 70th birthday. Steve Matlock, La-Z-Boy rep in Arizona, co-chairs company fund-raising related to the scholarships and the school.
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Donations by Norton and many others to build the $3.5 million Norton Hall, expected to be completed in early 2004.
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A $1 million, and growing, permanent endowment to attract top students and faculty, enrich the curriculum and underwrite prominent guest professors and lecturers. Funding came from gifts from the Edwin J. and Ruth M. Shoemaker Foundation, the Edward M. and Henrietta Knabusch Charitable Trust, the La-Z-Boy Foundation and other contributors.
"Mr. Knabusch and Mr. Shoemaker dedicated their lives to this industry and its continued growth, so it seems very fitting that their legacies be honored this way," said Norton.
HPU said the Knabusch-Shoemaker School, part of the Earl N. Phillips School of Business, is the only professional program of its kind in the United States combining study of home furnishings and business. It has 125 students and offers majors in home furnishings marketing, interior design and home furnishings management. Richard Bennington has directed the program since its inception in 1979.
