The University of Arizona Honors College has received a $25 million gift, adding to the school’s $1 billion dollar endowment.
The W.A. Franke Honors College, formerly known as the UA Honors College, was announced during a campus event Saturday morning. The college is named after William A. Franke, who donated the gift along with his wife Carolyn and the rest of the Franke Family.
“Even though they are not alumni of UA, Bill and Carolyn are great friends of UA,” said Robert Robbins, the president of UA. “They and their family have been actively involved in our institution for many years.”
Franke is the co-founder and managing partner of Indigo Partners LLC. He also established the W.A. Franke College of Business at NAU, along with other philanthropic ventures.
“When I grew up, philanthropy was not an opportunity, it was an obligation,” Franke said. “We are particularly focused on helping students who have backgrounds that make it more difficult from them to obtain education.”
Franke’s gift will help fund scholarship programs, support for study abroad, stipends to help with the cost of living in the Honors Village and other initiatives that will enhance the student experience, Robbins said. The gift will also establish an endowed chair for the college’s dean and a new Honors Faculty Academy.
“This is a gift that will have an immediate impact in enduring the transformation of the honors experience here at UA,” Robbins said.
The $25 million gift was a “pretty significant donation”, according to Liz Warren-Pederson, who works for the University and Alumni Development Program. The biggest gift UA has received is $50 million.
UA is among the 6% of public four-year universities with an endowment topping $1 billion.
The university brought in a record $345.2 million worth of gifts and commitments and $68.3 million in cash donations to endowed funds during the 2020-21 academic year.
