William & Mary receives record $100 million gift from Jane Batten
William & Mary will expand its coastal and marine sciences research with the help of a $100 million donation from local philanthropist Jane Batten. The university announced its largest donation in its 331-year history Wednesday.
The donation toward the newly-named Batten School of Coastal and Marine Sciences will support William & Mary’s existing marine science program at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. With the donation, the university will establish a Bachelor of Science degree in marine science, the first of its kind at a public university in Virginia, university officials confirmed.
The Batten School will be located along the York River in Gloucester Point, Va., nearly 20 miles from William & Mary’s main campus in Williamsburg. The school is surrounded by wetlands, marshes and coastal waters.
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Katherine Rowe, president of William & Mary, described the gift as a forward-looking investment in coastal and marine sciences.
“It’s becoming fairly well understood that every part of human life is affected by threats to our coastlines, our communities and cultures, transportation, national security and food supply.” Rowe said. “This is the time when we need to think about what it’s going to take to be resilient in the face of storm surges and floods and erosion.”
Batten said she and Rowe have talked about a potential gift for five years. Batten said she is confident her donation will enable William & Mary to expand on marine sciences research already in place.
“There’s just such a high level [of interest] among young people in environmental issues across all disciplines, and this helps educate a whole new army of young people to go out and attack this very critical problem,” Batten said.
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William & Mary has long partnered with VIMS, one of the largest marine research and education centers in the nation. The state agency was established in 1940 and fully integrated with William & Mary in 1979. VIMS’s graduate students can specialize in coastal and ocean processes, ecosystem health and natural resources. The school has granted over 1,000 graduate degrees since the integration.
Education in coastal and marine research is a priority to William & Mary, Rowe said, especially in a state where nearly 5 million people live near coastlines. Derek Aday, director of VIMS, said the school aims to find a solution for ongoing flooding, sea-level rises and water quality issues in coastal communities around the world.
“When you combine the resources of Mrs. Batten, with the research expertise, and the history of the great work and the partnership between VIMS, and William & Mary, you get the supercharged opportunity to do work on truly existential issues that face the lives of a big portion of the world’s population,” Aday said.
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A portion of the donation will directly support students through scholarships, fellowships, internships and funding for research equipment, Aday said.
William & Mary currently offers graduate and doctoral degree programs in marine sciences. With the new gift, it plans to admit undergraduate marine science students starting in the fall of 2025.
Aday said officials want to create a “bachelor’s program that will deliver the ability to do not just the great educational experience, but the hands-on research, outreach and engagement experience that many students are looking for.”
Batten’s donation matches a trend of large philanthropic gifts increasing over the years, said Sue Cunningham, president and CEO of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. In February, CASE reported $58 billion was given to U.S. colleges and universities in the 2023 fiscal year.
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“Over the years, we have seen significant growth with 11 gifts in 2023 of $100 million or more,” Cunningham said. “That’s double that was in 2022 and they represent 3.9 percent of total support.”
In the last 15 years, Batten said she has dedicated her philanthropy around environmental education.
The Batten name is quite familiar to the William & Mary community. Jane Batten’s late husband Frank Batten Sr. served on the university’s board of visitors in the 1990s. Jane Batten received an honorary degree from William & Mary in 2017. The family also established the Batten Foundation Scholarship Endowment at the Raymond A. Mason School of Business, the Frank Batten Sr. MBA Investment Fund Endowment, and the business school’s Center for Online Learning.
The family also contributed to other Virginia universities. For example, in 2007, Frank Batten Sr. donated $100 million to the University of Virginia to create a school of leadership and public policy.
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“The Batten family has a profound reputation,” Rowe said. “They’re extraordinary and visionary donors in our region and they think across generations. In this partnership with them, we’re leaning into one of the most critical areas for any future community.”
At 87, Jane Batten remains active in several local foundations, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. She said she hopes her gift will inspire others to invest in the education of coastal and marine sciences across the nation.
“There have not been many other large gifts for the environment, to institutions [of higher education] in this country,” Batten said. “I’m hoping that this will wake people up. Instead of giving … where other big gifts normally go, they will give gifts to institutions for this purpose.”
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