Former airline executive donates millions to NAU

Northern Arizona University has received the largest financial donation in its history, and funds are expected to be routed to Yuma.

Former America West chairman William Franke donated $25 million to NAU.

The money is intended for the NAU College of Business, which will be renamed the W.A. Franke College of Business, the school said.

The donation will pay for new faculty, program development and scholarships. The curriculum at the business school will be overhauled

to focus on skills Franke considers essential, including oral and written communication and strategic business planning.

The bulk of the funds will go to the main campus in Flagstaff but NAU-Yuma will receive some benefit.

Krista Rodin, NAU-Yuma vice president and campus executive officer, said their arm of the business college can use the money for developing local programs.

She said they were particularly interested in creating a specialty program in international trade study, focused on cross-border trade.

NAU-Yuma business students can also apply for the scholarships that will grow out of these funds.

Rodin added that she did not yet know how much of this money would trickle down to Yuma.

"It will depend on who submits applications," she said. "It won't be an allocation to the campus."

NAU-Yuma offers a bachelor's degree in business. Rodin said they have about 70 business majors this semester.

Franke was never a student at NAU. He said he chose the school because of its strong focus on undergraduate education. ''We hope this gift will take what NAU already has and strengthen it,'' he said.

NAU President John Haeger said Franke's donation will have a tremendous impact on the 20,000-student university and will create momentum for others to donate.

The Stanford University graduate said he felt the $25 million would make the most difference at NAU. He is especially interested in providing scholarships for American Indians, Hispanics and first-generation college students.

A significant portion of the gift will be donated upfront. NAU officials said the rest will come later as an endowment.

Franke's gift represents another large donation to Arizona's business schools. Within the past four years, financier William P. Carey pledged $50 million to Arizona State University's business school and entrepreneur Sam Garvin pledged $60 million to the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Franke is best known for shaking up bankrupt Circle K Corp. and America West Airlines.

His sometimes blunt bottom-line-focused style was unpopular among some employees.

Franke was chairman of America West, now US Airways, from 1992 to 2001.

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Sun staff writer Sarah Reynolds contributed to this report. She can be reached at sreynolds@yumasun.com or 539-6847.