2 0 | L O U I S V I L L E . E D U
Legacy
FINANCIALLY SOUND INVESTMENT:
UofL business
school receives
$1 million gift
Thanks to a slew of Top 100 national rankings and a win at the Global Venture
Labs Investment Competition — the "Super Bowl" of student business-plan
contests — these are indeed good days for the College of Business, and Lowry
Watkins, Jr., is doing his part to make sure that better days are ahead.
The successful local businessman and 1968 graduate recently donated
$1 million to the college, establishing the Lowry Watkins, Jr. Endowed Chair
in Finance, designed to create opportunities for research and analysis of the
f nancial sector.
Watkins' gift was a gesture of gratitude but also a way to help UofL in its climb
up the national rankings, he said.
"I have a family background in banking — my father was a mortgage broker
and my grandfather co-founded and also ran the largest bank in Kentucky," Wat-
kins said. "But, it was my time as a f nance major here at the UofL business school
that put me on my path to a greater understanding of money and f nance. I'm
glad to see the school growing and the programs improving. This is important. I'll
do all I can to help the University of Louisville. I'm not done."
"We would like to thank Lowry Watkins, Jr., for his continued generosity,"
interim Dean Rohan Christie-David said. "This type of unwavering commitment
is one of the reasons we continue to rise in the national rankings every year. The
gift helps us address two signif cant areas — research and increasing our number
of endowed chairs — which are both important factors that are considered when
ranking the country's best business schools."
Lowry Watkins, Jr., 68B (left) and College of Business Interim Dean Rohan Christie-David (right)