Florida A&M University’s School of Business & Industry (SBI) has received a $50,000 Ryder “Future of Excellence” Grant from Ryder System, Inc. and the Ryder Charitable Foundation. The grant will be used to fund scholarships, support SBI programs, and name a dedicated Ryder room in the SBI building. Additionally, starting in summer 2026, Ryder will offer paid internships to FAMU students in areas such as audit, finance, IT, and procurement.
Room 107 in the South Wing of the SBI building will become the named Ryder room. This space is intended to serve as a workspace for interns from Ryder and act as a center for recruitment and career-related events hosted by the company.
The “Future of Excellence” initiative aims to help institutions with strong supply chain-related programs and assist top-performing students in accessing college or technical school training.
“The name Ryder is no stranger to FAMU,” said Interim SBI Dean Ira Bates. “Our donor wall has included the Ryder name for decades. We’re very proud of our role in educating some of the current generation of Ryder leaders.”
Ryder will participate in FAMU’s annual SBI Extravaganza on September 4. The event welcomes students and introduces them to academic programs and opportunities. As part of this event, a special session themed around the “Future of Excellence” initiative will take place at 11:30 a.m. outside the main entrance to the SBI building. Two FAMU alumni who hold leadership roles at Ryder—in finance and information technology—will speak about their experiences.
Jay Anderson, Vice President and Controller at Ryder, holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from FAMU in business administration and accounting respectively. He joined Ryder in 2012 after working for Deloitte for more than a decade. Winston Baker is director of application development and support within Ryder’s IT department; he earned his degree from FAMU in computer information systems before joining financial technology firm FIS for over a decade prior to moving to Ryder.
“FAMU’s School of Business & Industry professors and a strong culture of excellence trained me and helped me solidify the career path that led to where I am today,” Anderson said. “It’s a privilege to be able to work with the university and Ryder colleagues to help provide that opportunity for the next generation.”
Ryder System provides logistics solutions across North America through services including fleet management, warehousing, distribution, contract packaging, e-commerce fulfillment, last-mile delivery, managed transportation solutions as well as vehicle leasing maintenance programs according to its website (https://www.ryder.com). The company manages almost 250,000 commercial vehicles across approximately 760 maintenance locations while operating nearly 300 warehouses covering over 100 million square feet.
