University Of Kentucky Receives Record $100 Million Gift

The University of Kentucky announced on Thursday that it had received the largest gift in its nearly 160-year history – $100 million bestowed by the late Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton to the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE) through The Bill Gatton Foundation.

According to the university’s announcement, the gift is also believed to be the largest ever to a college of agriculture in the United States. It became UK’s largest donation just weeks after the university had announced its previous largest gift – a $34.5 million commitment from alumnus Stanley Pigman and his wife Karen for UK’s College of Engineering

In recognition of the gift, UK, plans to rename CAFE the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.in honor of Gatton’s parents, Edith Martin and Harry W. Gatton Sr. (In full disclosure, I served as UK’s provost from 2001-2005 and knew Mr. Gatton.)

According to Nancy Cox, UK vice president for land-grant engagement and the dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, the college will form a task force of faculty and staff members to consider how the gift will be used to support its scholarships, academic programming, infrastructure and research.

“This is a transformational gift that will have a profound impact on CAFE and the University of Kentucky,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. “It will be a cornerstone in our efforts — and our singular mission — to advance Kentucky in everything that we do. Like Mr. Gatton did, we dream of a Kentucky tomorrow that is healthier, wealthier and wiser than it is today. This gift reflects his profound belief in this institution to be a partner for progress in our capacity and commitment to advance Kentucky.”

Gatton, who passed away in April 2022, was a lifelong philanthropist and was the largest individual donor to UK, with gift totaling more than $180 million. The university’s Gatton College of Business and Economics and the Gatton Student Center are both named after him. He served on UK’s Board of Trustees.

Bill Gatton Foundation Trustee Danny Dunn, said the gift was an indication of how much Gatton believed in the transformative power of higher education.

“Mr. Gatton believed that investing in the University of Kentucky was investing in Kentucky’s future,” Dunn said, in the university’s announcement. “This gift marks a significant milestone for the foundation, representing its first major donation since his passing. This gift symbolizes the foundation’s commitment to honoring Mr. Gatton’s passion for Kentucky and his desire to support its agricultural community as an essential way to advance this state.”

Bill Gatton was born and raised on a farm near Bremen, Kentucky, in Muhlenberg County. He earned his BS in 1954 from the University of Kentucky and later received an MBA in finance and banking from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

As a student at UK, Gatton began selling cars at a local dealership, an activity that was a start of his successful career of entrepreneurship. He later opened his own car dealership – Bill Gatton Motors in Owensboro, Kentucky, in 1959 – before expanding the Bill Gatton Automotive Group with dealerships in Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas.

In addition he was engaged in various real estate projects in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas. Gatton was also the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Area Bancshares., which during his tenure, was the largest bank holding company headquartered in Kentucky. He served as the director of the boards of all seventeen subsidiary banks located throughout Kentucky.

Former UK Vice President for Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement Mike Richey, a long-time friend and confidant of Mr. Gatton’s, said this gift from the foundation would have been very important to Gatton.

“For the last few years of his life, Mr. Gatton never wavered in his interest and desire to do something philanthropic for agriculture in Kentucky through the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment,” Richey said. “This wonderful gift shows he has done that very thing.”