From newspaper reporter to businessman to founder of the Weather Channel, University alumnus Frank Batten Sr.'s resume includes an impressive list of accomplishments, the most recent of which is a landmark gift to the Darden School.
In December Batten, a 1950 University alumnus, gave $60 million to the Darden School -- the largest single donation that not only the University, but also any graduate school of business has ever received.
The donation propelled the University's Capital Campaign, the fundraising project created to replace waning state funding (see related article), over its $1 billion goal to $1.1 billion, racking up Darden's earnings to $180 million.
Although Batten himself is a Harvard Business School graduate, he still has been instrumental in helping to shape Darden as a leading business school.
"He's been a strong believer in the school and a strong supporter for over 40 years now," Darden's Director of Communications Phil Giaramita said.
Batten, who hails from Norfolk, Va., was submerged in business and entrepreneurship from an early age.
His father died when he was a baby and he and his mother had to move in with his aunt and uncle. His uncle, Samuel Slover, was an important Norfolk businessman involved in the newspaper industry.
"My uncle was my surrogate father. He was in the newspaper business. He owned the newspapers in Norfolk and he gave me the opportunity to go in the newspaper business," Batten said. "I spent many long years in his house listening to him talk about the newspaper business. He became my model."
Slover owned and operated the Virginian-Pilot and taught Batten invaluable business skills and know-how while he was young.
In 1946, Batten decided to attend the University.
"I knew I was going to work in Virginia so I thought it would be useful to go to U.Va.," he said.
While a student at the University, Batten worked on the staff of Corks and Curls, at a Charlottesville radio station and spent his summers doing various newspaper jobs for his uncle, each year gaining more experience that later would make him one of the nation's leading entrepreneurs.
Batten graduated from the College in 1950 and went on to the Graduate School of Business at Harvard University. At the time, Harvard was considered to have the best graduate business program in the country. The University did not even have a business school when Batten graduated from the College.
After graduating from Harvard Business School, Batten went to work full time for the Virginian-Pilot reporting and selling ads.
Batten quickly moved up the ranks at the Virginian-Pilot, becoming first the head of circulation and in 1954, at age 27, he became the newspaper's publisher.
Batten didn't stop there.
He continued to increase his business empire. He began Landmark Communications, a corporation that controls both the Virginian-Pilot and the Weather Channel and was paramount in the development of cable TV in general.
"In his profession he's been a giant, a leading entrepreneur," said Darden director of communications Phil Giaramita. "He began the Weather Channel. There are 50 or more movie channels, but only one weather channel."
In 1998, Batten retired as chairman of the Board of Landmark and was succeeded by his son, Frank Batten, Jr., a Darden alumnus.
Over the years, Batten has donated his wealth of entrepreneurial knowledge to Darden as well as close to $70 million, said Giaramita.
"The school has a great promise in becoming a leader in entreprenurship. Right now, the American economy is being driven by entrepreneurs," Batten said. "The more experience entrepreneurs have in management the more likely they are to succeed in their endeavors."
The donation will be used by Darden to "develop one of the very top entreprenual programs in the country," Batten said.
The money will be used in a variety of ways to accomplish this goal. It will be used for faculty salaries, to make new faculty positions, to increase available scholarship money and to support the new Darden center being developed in Northern Virginia.
$15 million will be used to support scholarships both nationally and internationally. New scholarships will be offered to graduate students from Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and parts of Europe, Giaramita said.
$15 million will be used for faculty salaries, and to create new faculty chairs in entrepreneur education, he added.
The money is "all going to people and programs to advance entrepreneurial learning at Darden and other University graduate schools," Giaramita said.
Batten is not currently on any committees at Darden but he is "glad to give advice whenever I can be helpful," Batten said. "I've been involved in Darden since the school was first started. I was on the board of trustees shortly after the school started."
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