GUYANESE-born professor, Dr. Shamir Ally and his wife, Dr. Maryann Ally, donated a collection of learning materials, valued at $2.6M to the University of Guyana (UG) on Monday. Their sixth donation in six years was handed over in the foyer of the UG Library at Turkeyen by the professor, personally. It comprised 143 books, compact discs (CDs) and 50 periodicals, taking their total contribution, so far, to $16.4M worth.
The husband, who is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of his company, International Consulting and Financial Services, in Pennsylvania, United States (U.S.), said he and his wife, a senior global marketing director at Merck and Co., which deals in pharmaceuticals, are both firm believers that education is one of the drivers to success for individuals and a nation, as a whole.
Vice-Chancellor of UG, Professor Lawrence Carrington expressed gratitude for all the donations and noted that the items given help to keep the institution ahead in certain areas, as they provide contemporary material for the students.
Speaking on behalf of the Library, too, UG Librarian, Ms. Gwyneth George said the occasion was further evidence that, after 31 years, Dr. Ally remained a good son of the soil.
She said his gifts reflect his values regarding education and his business acumen have been valuable to the university.
Starting in August 2004, the couple have given 50 accounting, finance and management textbooks; 171 more in 2005 as well as 80 periodicals; 355 textbooks in 2006; 237 textbooks, CDs and magazines in 2007 and 53 textbooks, 11 CDs and 212 magazines in 2009.