LOUISVILLE, Ky.–Louisville philanthropist Owsley Brown Frazier has donated $25 million to the University of Louisville. The donation is the largest ever made to UofL by a person and is also believed to be the largest outright gift to any Kentucky college or university.
The gift, announced today in a ceremony on UofL’s Belknap Campus, will be used to improve the quality of the university’s academic, research and athletic programs.
Frazier, immediate past president of the UofL Board of Trustees, holds degrees in law and business administration and an honorary doctorate from UofL. He is the great-grandson of George Garvin Brown, who founded Brown-Forman Corp., one of the world’s largest wine and spirit companies.
“I’m a proud graduate of UofL and I’ve seen how its academic and research mission has flourished under President Jim Ramsey,” Frazier said. “I hope my gift will further that mission and spur others to do the same.”
Ramsey praised Frazier, calling him “a personal friend and great friend of the city of Louisville, higher education and UofL in particular. His generosity is making a difference in the health, learning and quality of life for generations of students and Kentuckians.”
The gift brings to more than $40 million the amount Frazier and his daughters have given to UofL. In September, UofL named its College of Business building Harry Frazier Hall in honor of Owsley’s late brother, Harry Frazier Jr., after a gift from the families of Harry and Owsley.
So far, UofL has raised $582 million towards the $1 billion goal set for its capital campaign, “Charting Our Course: A Campaign for Kentucky’s Premier Metropolitan Research University,” which Frazier co-chairs.