Frank Batten

Frank Batten served as a member of the Board of Visitors of Old Dominion University (ODU), from 1962 to 1973,  and was the first Rector of the Board of Visitors from 1962-1970. From 1955-1962, Batten was a member of Director Lewis W. Webb, Jr.’s Advisory Board which advised Webb on administrative members and helped to raise money for the Norfolk Division. A co-founder of The Weather Channel, Batten took control of The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in 1954. After his time on the Board of Visitors, Batten continued to be heavily involved with Old Dominion. In 2003, he gave a then-record $32 million gift to the university to support research in engineering and the sciences, and the Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology and the Batten Arts and Letters Building are named in his honor.

Resources

1. Old Dominion University Photographic and Multimedia Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Perry Library, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, 23529.
2. Old Dominion University Board of Visitors Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Perry Library, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, 23529.

References

1. Bookman, Steven and Jessica Ritchie. Old Dominion University: A Campus History Series.  Arcadia Publishing. Charleston, South Carolina, 2017.