Frank Batten, Sr., who donated $100 million in 2007 to establish the University's Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, passed away Sept. 10 in Norfolk, Va. at the age of 82.
"He had a real interest in promoting leadership in both private and public aspects of school," Batten School Dean Harry Harding said. "He wanted students to be more active leaders in life. The Batten School was intended to educate people who could come up with solutions to public policy problems and to enlighten people in public life."
President John T. Casteen, III also praised Batten's commitment to leadership and the Batten School, which was funded by the largest single gift in the University's history.
"When we started talking about his desire to make a transformational gift, he mentioned several interests, including (among others) what he saw as the rapid evolution of new media for journalism, leadership in general, public policy, foreign policy, and global studies," he stated in an e-mail.
Batten, who started out as an errand boy at his uncle's newspaper, grew up to become chairman and CEO of one of the largest private media companies, Landmark Media Enterprises. That determination and work-ethic was praised by University leaders.
"Mr. Batten was a leader in whatever he did," Darden School Professor Emeritus C. Ray Smith said. "If you study his media business, you will notice that he was very active in The Associated Press and other paper organizations. He was very influential in that part of the corporate world."
Batten was a great supporter of the Darden School as well, contributing $60 million to the business school in 1999.
For many people outside the University community, Batten was most frequently remembered for starting The Weather Channel in 1982.
"[He was] powerful thinker whose ideas were large and challenging," Casteen said, noting Batten's membership on Harvard's corporate board and support of many Virginia colleges and universities.\nBatten's support of higher education institutions, however, did not serve a selfish interest.
"He was never interested in bricks and water," Smith said. "He didn't want his name on a building. He was more interested in building programs like the Batten School of Leadership."
Additionally, Batten played a defining role in the Virginian-Pilot's opposition to the commonwealth's official "Massive Resistance" policy to integration during the late 1950s. The policy denied state funding to any school that accepted both black and white students.
Batten went on to become the first rector of Old Dominion College, now Old Dominion University, guiding its separation from the College of William & Mary and helping it achieve university status. His long association with ODU included a $32 million gift in 2003, which was the largest in its history.
Batten's tremendous generosity is evident from the contributions made in 2003 alone, totaling $170 million to educational institutions including Virginia Wesleyan College, Hollins College in Roanoke and the Harvard Business School, where he received his master's degree in business administration in 1952.
"His interest in need-based financial aid funding led to the creation of the Norfolk area's Access program," Casteen said, referring to the Access College Foundation, which helps students in need acquire scholarships and cash awards for education. "We borrowed major elements of that program's design when we designed AccessUVa."
Batten is survived by his wife, Jane, and three children. A memorial service will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. at Virginia Wesleyan College in Virginia Beach.
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