Hussman Family Foundation
The Hussman Family Foundation is one of two foundations created by Walter E. Hussman, Jr., publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and former chairman of WEHCO Media, a privately-owned communication company that owns 10 daily newspapers, including the Democrat-Gazette and the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, seven weekly newspapers and seven cable TV systems. 1 Hussman earlier created the Hussman Foundation, which principally gives grants to Arkansas-based nonprofits and supports charter schools and education reform. 2
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University of North Carolina
The Hussman Family Foundation’s principal donation is a $25 million gift made to the University of North Carolina in July 2019. 3
The deal secured Hussman the naming rights to the university’s journalism school, from which Hussman graduated in 1968. The Hussman Family Foundation agreed to donate $1.5 million to the university every year between 2019-28, with an additional $2.5 million paid to the school every year for five years after the death of Walter Hussman and his wife Robena. 3
Grantmaking
The University of North Carolina received $1.3 million from the Hussman Family Foundation in 2019, accounting for most of the foundation’s gifts. None of the other donations made by the foundation in 2019 exceeded $2,500. 4