Diamondbacks’ Ken Kendrick Makes $700,000 Gift
by Pam Fronko and Tim Terman
Ken Kendrick ’65 and his wife Randy have contributed $700,000 to WVU’s College of Business and Economics and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Kendrick is the managing general partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team.
From the gift, $500,000 will establish a program focused on free-market research and $200,000 will aid in the construction of Athletics’ Donald J. Brohard Hall of Traditions.
“Randy and I are delighted to support WVU in establishing a program focused on free-market economics, which will hopefully encourage students to become entrepreneurs,” said Kendrick. “We also are very proud to be able to honor our friend Don Brohard, a fervent supporter of Mountaineer football.”
The Ken and Randy Kendrick Fund for Free Market Research and Entrepreneurship Policy will create a program that examines ways entrepreneurship is encouraged. “There is much interest in fostering entrepreneurship,” said Business and Economics Dean Steven Sears. “However, existing programs and research that influence policy debate often propose bigger government and new government programs. Largely missing from this discussion are free-market approaches. The Kendricks’ gift will make possible research that can add substantially to the debate.”
Russell Sobel, professor of economics and holder of the James Clark Coffman Distinguished Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies, will lead the program. According to Sobel, “This gift represents a significant step in strengthening our nationally recognized research program in the study of private markets and limited government.”
The gift will fund publication of academic research into the shortcomings of government action and the benefits of free-market institutions in promoting entrepreneurship and economic growth. It also will help disseminate research findings at academic conferences, applied policy symposia, through articles in policy-related journals, and other outreach efforts.
Mr. Kendrick earned his WVU degree in business administration.
The Donald J. Brohard Hall of Traditions will be located in the Milan Puskar Center overlooking Mountaineer Field. The Hall will honor Mr. Brohard in perpetuity, provide a first-class showcase for the over 100-year history of WVU football, serve as a recruiting focal point, and attract thousands of visitors. According to Athletic Director Ed Pastilong, “It will serve as a point of inspiration for current players and a place of remembrance for fans of all ages.”
Kendrick and Brohard grew up as childhood friends in Princeton, West Virginia. Mr. Brohard was a staunch Mountaineer football fan. He urged Kendrick, who had not been back to campus for more than 25 years, to reconnect with WVU and its sports programs. Kendrick did become involved with the University and was inducted into the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni in February. He also serves on the WVU Foundation Board of Directors.
The 3,000 square-foot hall will feature still photographs, graphics, interactive displays, presentations, bowl-game highlights, a professional football display, lettermen listings, and other Mountaineer football artifacts. It will bring to life the rich history of Mountaineer football from Pro Football Hall of Famers Joe Stydahar and Sam Huff to more recent consensus All-Americans like Darryl Talley, Mike Compton, Aaron Beasley, and Grant Wiley.
Contributions also have been made by Mr. Brohard’s family and friends.
Oshel Gift Annuity
by Deborah Miller
While a significant number of first-generation college students continue to enroll at West Virginia University, others attend because of family connections. Paul W. “Bill” Oshel ’61, ’65, credits family members—his parents and his brother—as one reason for attending and supporting the University.
A Huntington native, Oshel says “I feel my WVU education contributed greatly in finding rewarding employment opportunities. Much of this can be attributed to the high caliber of faculty and the stimulating courses I had.”
He remembers working as a waiter at Maude McKenzie’s boarding house on High Street and meeting many students who became doctors or lawyers or served in other professions. He says that she was a good-hearted soul and even extended credit to students who couldn’t pay.
After graduation, Oshel’s career path took him to Korea and Kentucky while serving in the US Army and then to North Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia in the computer and human resources fields. When he retired in 2001, he decided that part-time employment would provide ways for him to stay active, experience new things, and make new friends.
Oshel also put into action his plan to step up his personal support of WVU. He created a gift annuity* in 2003 with the WVU Foundation that pays retirement income to him on a quarterly basis. While he donated cash, a gift annuity can be established using other assets, including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.
“I chose this because of the taxation features, and it provides income for my lifetime,” said Oshel. “The Foundation staff helped me with getting everything to work.”
His first gift annuity was so beneficial that he set up a second one in 2005. He knows that he cannot outlive the income—it’s guaranteed for life.
In the future when the payout ends, Oshel has specified that the remaining funds will benefit the College of Business and Economics, where he earned his bachelor’s and MBA degrees, and the WVU Libraries, “where I found excellent resources and a good environment for study,” he added. Both endowed funds will last in perpetuity and have been named in memory of his father.
Being a member of the Tidewater (Virginia) Alumni Association chapter has given Oshel the opportunity to keep his Mountaineer connections strong: “I will always maintain an interest in West Virginia affairs.”
His special gift support will help his alma mater serve future generations.
*A gift annuity through the WVU Foundation is not available to residentsof California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin.
WVU Foundation Board Profiles
by Drew Epperley
Members of the West Virginia University Foundation Board of Directors are leaders in business, the professions, and civic affairs, and hail from across America. All serve without compensation. They volunteer their time and energy, contribute their considerable expertise, and give of their own resources to support the University they so love and respect.
Meet Board members J. Franklin Long and Ken Kendrick.
JOSEPH FRANKLIN LONG, of J. Franklin Long Law Office in Bluefield, West Virginia, has been a member of the WVU Foundation Board of Directors since 2001.
In addition to earning a JD in law from WVU in 1977, he earned a BS in business from Bluefield State College in 1972 and an associate’s degree from Southwest Virginia Community College in 1970.
Voted the Most Outstanding Black Attorney in West Virginia, he has served as president of the West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and the Mountain State Bar Association. He is first vice president of the West Virginia Conference of Branches of the NAACP and chaired the state’s Minority Business Task Force. Long has lectured in Continuing Legal Education seminars from New York to San Francisco and in the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and Canada.
He was presented the Civil Rights Award by West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin in February 2006 and the Living the Dream Award by Governor Bob Wise in January 2005.
Mr. Long presently serves as chairman of the board of the Bluefield State College Foundation, is on the board of governors of Concord University, and is a member of the West Virginia United Methodist Church Foundation. Past-Chairman of the National Litigation Group, he also has served in several capacities with the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.
He has been practicing law in Bluefield, West Virginia, since 1977 and is admitted to practice law in West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
KEN KENDRICK joined the WVU Foundation Board of Directors in 2005. A 1965 WVU graduate, he is the managing general partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team.
Mr. Kendrick became a part owner of the Diamondbacks in 1995 and its managing general partner in 2004. After graduating from WVU, he started his career with IBM in Baltimore, Maryland. Three years later, he founded Datatel Inc., which has become the industry leader in the development of software for the management of infrastructure technology for colleges and universities.
Today he is chairman of Datatel and president of the Datatel Scholars Foundation, which provides college scholarships to students throughout the United States and Canada. As Datatel continued to grow and prosper, Mr. Kendrick stepped down from the daily oversight to explore new business opportunities.
He served as president of a Texas-based banking technology company for four years in the 1980s until it was purchased by a subsidiary of General Motors. In 1989 Kendrick invested in a community bank in Woodlands, Texas. Woodforest National Bank, with over $1.7 billion in assets, is one of the largest employee-owned banks in the country.
Mr. Kendrick owns Bumble Bee Ranch, which includes more than 74,000 acres for horseback riding, cattle driving, off-road and helicopter tours, overnight facilities, and team-building activities for companies. The ranch also serves numerous children’s charities. In addition, he supports many community ventures in Arizona, including the Dodge Theater in Phoenix, a state-of-the-art entertainment venue.