GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A graduate of North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro is giving the school $1 million for scholarships and to help fight Alzheimer's disease.

The school announced Monday that the gift is from Willie Deese, who recently retired from a senior executive position at Merck & Co., a pharmaceutical company.

The school said $150,000 will go to the Center for Outreach in Alzheimer's, Aging, and Community Health. The center's research focuses largely on African Americans with Alzheimer's. It also holds an annual conference to help people who take care of loved ones with dementia.

The rest of the money goes for scholarships.

Deese graduated from the school in 1977 with a business administration degree. He is a former board member of North Carolina A&T and received an honorary doctorate in 2011.