With a $40,000 donation from Proctor ‘ Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley, to which School of Management Dean Louis Lataif matched with discretionary funding, the rising business school has created two new scholarships for doctoral students.

Lafley created the Lafley Scholarship in honor of his father, Alan Lafley, Lataif said. The donation was announced at the Human Resources Policy Institute’s 25th anniversary dinner Sept. 21.

At the dinner, Lafley announced the scholarship for the first time to his father, who was in attendance. Lataif then surprised the Lafleys by matching the scholarship from his discretionary fund, creating a second Lafley Scholarship.

The first scholarship was awarded the same evening to Yan Shen, a third-year SMG doctoral student.

The Lafley Scholarships are awarded to doctoral students studying organizational behavior and human resources. The second Lafley Scholar has not yet been named.

Lataif said he was glad to mark the anniversary of the Human Resources Policy Institute with the announcements. The HRPI studies the “latest developments in human resources management,” according to its website. It holds two meetings each year for top HR executives to discuss trends and research and network within their field.

Lataif said A.G. Lafley was “impressed by the students and the curriculum” after visiting SMG.

Lataif said it is important a “CEO of as large of a company as Proctor ‘ Gamble be fond of what he sees at Boston University.”

Organizational behavior professor Fred Foulkes, the HRPI faculty director, said he was pleased the Lafley Scholarship was awarded to Shen.

“It is a very special honor,” Shen said. “I’m very appreciative to A.G. Lafley, his father, Fred [Foulkes], the Human Resources Policy Institute, my department and the School of Management.”

Shen is pursuing her doctoral degree in business administration and studies organizational behavior and human resources. She said she looks forward to what she can learn from Proctor ‘ Gamble to complement her research.

Foulkes said he has a longstanding relationship with the Lafleys and helped facilitate the contribution. He said he has known Alan Lafley for many years.

Lafley held top HR positions with General Electric under Jack Welch, was head of HR at Chase Manhattan Bank and has been an HRPI fellow for nearly 20 years, Foulkes said.

Foulkes also taught A.G. Lafley at Harvard Business School. Foulkes said that while professors do not remember all their students, he still remembers Lafley.

“I remember him as a very good student,” he said.

Foulkes said he also knows Lafley as a good son as well as an “amazing executive.” He said Lafley’s career is one of great achievement and is pleased Lafley had the opportunity to honor his father in a way that supports his father’s contributions to the field of human resources.

Foulkes said the gift is important in attracting top doctoral candidates to SMG. He said competition from other schools is severe, and SMG has had trouble recruiting top doctoral candidates.

He said each department has scholarships for two students each year, but this is not enough in itself to attract the best candidates.

Fellowships are often a deciding factor for doctoral candidate choosing between programs, Foulkes said.

Foulkes and Lataif said they appreciated the gift and look forward to the Lafleys’ continued involvement with BU and SMG.