A $565,000 check from the ExxonMobil Foundation, presented to Cornell President David Skorton last month, was the largest matching gift given by any company to Cornell this year.

The gift was presented to Skorton May 25 by engineering alumna Sherri Stuewer, B.S. '73, M.S. '75, trustee and vice president for safety, health and environment for Exxon Mobil Corp. in Irving, Texas. It was the fifth-largest matching gift made to a university this year by the ExxonMobil Foundation's Educational Matching Gift Program.

"The ExxonMobil Foundation's continued commitment to higher education through its matching gift program is truly exemplary," said Skorton. "We are grateful that the foundation once again has magnified the contributions of its staff members and retirees by matching their gifts to Cornell."

Under the ExxonMobil Foundation's Educational Matching Gift Program, the company's employees, retirees, surviving spouses and directors can give up to $7,500 a year to colleges and universities with which they are affiliated. The foundation then matches those gifts on a three-to-one basis up to $22,500; to date, the foundation has provided more than $347 million to higher education in the United States.