Select Gifts

Bill Gatton is the single largest donor in the history of the University of Kentucky. During his lifetime he gave several multi-million-dollar gifts which resulted in the renaming of the Gatton College of Business and Economics and the Gatton Student Center.  After his death, The Bill Gatton Foundation gave the two largest gifts in the history of the University of Kentucky when it committed $100 million dollars to the newly named Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment as well as $150 million dollars for a new arts district on campus.

Mr. Gatton’s additional gifts to the university support a number of initiatives and scholarship funds.  Among these are support for the UK Barnstable Brown Diabetes Clinic for an endowed faculty fund, education and outreach programs, and cutting-edge diabetes research.   In addition, The Bill Gatton Foundation has continued Mr. Gatton’s support of the UK LEADS scholarship program and recently made another $5 million dollar gift for scholarships to the university.  These annual gifts started in 2022 and now total $20 million of gifted UK LEADS scholarship funds.

The Bill Gatton Foundation’s gift to East Tennessee State University helped pave the way for the establishment of the region’s first pharmacy school. That school is known as The ETSU Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy.

The Bill Gatton Foundation donated $32,500,000 to the University of Tennessee in honor of Frank Winston, the long-time legal counsel, trusted advisor, and friend to Mr. Gatton.  In recognition of the gift, the College of Law at the University of Tennessee was renamed The Frank Winston College of Law.  Mr. Winston was a proud alumnus of the College of Law, a state legislator, a well-respected attorney, as well as an original trustee of The Bill Gatton Foundation.  He was revered by all for his integrity, humility, and commitment to others.

The Bill Gatton Foundation helped fund the establishment of The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University. The Gatton Academy attracts some of the most gifted high school students in Kentucky who spend their junior and senior years of high school on the WKU campus and pursue college level classes and research opportunities. Mr. Gatton also helped fund an expansion of the Academy in 2015. Read article.

The Bill Gatton Foundation has pledged $15,500,000 to the new Gatton Park on the Town Branch.  This includes a $14,500,000 initial pledge and a surprise additional $1,000,000 endowment gift announced at the park grand opening.  Gatton Park has been transformational for downtown Lexington and this gift is reflective of Mr. Gatton’s love for the city that meant so much to him.  He often said, “When a person dies in Kentucky, they do not want to go to heaven, they want to go to Lexington.”

In late 2024, The Bill Gatton Foundation made the largest single gift in the history of UVA Wise.  The gift is designed to have a broad impact across campus including establishing several endowed scholarship funds, renaming the nursing program, renaming the new data analytics program, and creating a new Chancellor’s Greatest Needs Fund.  Additional impacts including renaming the softball field and the Chancellor’s hospitality suite, as well as establish a fund for the mathematics department in honor of Rachel Clay-Keohane, a standout faculty member, former head coach of the women’s basketball team, and member of the UVA-Wise Hall of Fame.

The Bill Gatton Foundation has gifted $10,000,000 to support Alice Lloyd College in its important mission to create servant leaders who will return to and serve their mountain communities.  The gift created an endowment to assist graduates of Alice Lloyd College looking to attend graduate school as well as an endowment for the upkeep of the renamed Gatton Winston Hall in Lexington, Kentucky for students attending graduate school at the University of Kentucky.

The Bill Gatton Foundation donated $11,000,000 to the Kentucky FFA Foundation to be held in an endowment to benefit tens of thousands of high school FFA students in Kentucky.  The funds will be used to enhance the programming at the newly named Carol Martin Gatton Kentucky FFA Leadership Training Center, increase the prize money at FFA competitions, as well as provide a means for rural FFA students to attend the national FFA conference in Washington, D.C. each year.

Mr. Gatton provided substantial funding to save Sacramento Elementary School located in Sacramento, Kentucky, from closure.  The school was then renamed The Marie Gatton Phillips Elementary in honor of Mr. Gatton’s sister, who was a teacher.

In 2025, The Bill Gatton Foundation provided a grant for upgrades to the school.  The grant paid for a new playground, upgraded fencing, a new digital monument sign, and an upgraded awning over the school entrance.  These upgrades are designed to make the school a more safe and welcoming space not only for the students but the surrounding community.

The Bill Gatton Foundation made the single largest private donation to the Bristol, Tennessee, school system to fund major renovations to the Tennessee High School auditorium. The auditorium was named in honor of Frank Winston, Bill Gatton’s long-time friend and in-house attorney. Read article.

The Bill Gatton Foundation made a contribution to the Letcher County Public Schools to rebuild the libraries at Martha Jane Potter Elementary, West Whitesburg Elementary, and Whitesburg Middle School after they were destroyed by the 2022 flooding in Eastern Kentucky. Read article.

Mr. Gatton made several donations to the Mayo Clinic, which he credited with saving his life on more than one occasion.

A gift from Bill Gatton supported the establishment of The Bill Gatton Center for Advanced Cardiac Rehab at Ballad Hospital in two locations, Bristol and Kingsport, Tennessee.

A strong supporter of United Way, The Bill Gatton Foundation made a substantial gift to its endowment fund which is designed to help offset the costs of any overhead so more of the Bristol community’s donated dollars will go directly to the causes supported by the community.