Countrywide, a Calabasas-based, diversified financial services provider, will work with the university officials to develop the department's first endowed professorship. The Countrywide gift, which is payable over five years, will provide critical additional resources needed to recruit and retain top faculty, support existing programs and attract distinguished visiting scholars.

"Assisting in the creation of the endowed professorship at CSUN aptly coincides with Countrywide's ongoing community involvement and active philanthropic efforts," said Anne McCallion, managing director and chief administrative officer for Countrywide.

Judy Knudson, CSUN's vice president for university advancement, called Countrywide's gift a wonderful partnership that will benefit both organizations, but in particular the university's students.

"It provides a wonderful opportunity for the university to enhance educational opportunities in the Department of Finance, while continuing to cement our efforts to reach out to the community," Knudson said.

William Jennings, chair of the Department of Finance, Real Estate and Insurance in CSUN's College of Business and Economics, said faculty were looking forward to the creation of the Countrywide Endowed Professorship in Finance and Real Estate.

"Everyone in the department is very, very excited about the endowed professorship and to be working with Countrywide," Jennings said.

Founded in 1969, Countrywide Credit Industries, Inc. NYSE, is a member of the S&P 500 and Forbes 500. The company provides consumer and business-to-business financial products and services in domestic and international markets. Its primary subsidiary, Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. was recently ranked #1 in Customer Satisfaction Among the Largest National Home Lenders*. Consumer businesses include mortgages, insurance and other financial products. Business-to-business activities encompass capital markets, transaction processing and insurance. The company is headquartered in Calabasas, Calif., and has more than 15,000 employees with over 550 offices.

Other Countrywide subsidiaries include Full Spectrum Lending, Inc., a subprime residential mortgage lender; LandSafe, Inc., a provider of loan closing services; Countrywide Insurance Services, Inc., a full-service insurance agency; Countrywide Capital Markets, a mortgage-related investment banker; and Balboa Life and Casualty, a national provider of property, liability and life insurance. In addition, Countrywide is the majority shareholder of Global Home Loans, Ltd., a European mortgage banking joint venture.

For more information about the company, visit Countrywide's website at www.countrywide.com.

CSUN's College of Business and Economics currently serves more than 5,700 undergraduate and graduate students, and is one of the 10 largest undergraduate business programs in the United States.

California State University, Northridge has more than 30,000 full- and part-time students and offers 59 bachelor's and 41 master's degrees. Founded in 1958, it is the only four-year university in the San Fernando Valley and the third largest in the 23-campus CSU system. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges recently said CSUN "stands as a model to other public urban institutions of higher education."