Paul Xiong, a Ball State graduate who received his master’s degree in 1989, recently made a $1 million planned gift to Information Technology to show his appreciation for the program and Ball State. Xiong applied to Ball State after seeing an ad in a book, and he considers Ball State to be the beginning of his American dream. He applied for graduate school and was accepted with a graduate assistantship.  

After extensive time working on his graduate assistantship, he remembers being one of the few students to receive a key to work at the University Computer Services Center. There, he made connections with other students who worked late at night. He also gained an important mentor who invested in him, helping him search for jobs, practice negotiating salaries, and find a professional suit to wear for interviews. 

Xiong retired from Honeywell in 2020 after working for the company for 31 years. Since then, Xiong has expressed his gratitude for how well Ball State equipped him for the future and gifted his generous donation to Information Technology. Thanks to Xiong’s donation, future generations of Ball State students will fly even higher!