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

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. ⁴

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. ⁵

1. “WEHCO Media—History,” http://www.wehco.com/History.html (accessed July 27, 2021)
2. Hussman Foundation, Return of a Private foundation (Form 990-PF), 2019, Part XV Line 3 https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/581605071/202011919349100026/full
3. Kate Murphy, Hussman’s Contract With UNC Sheds New Light On The Strings Attached To The $25 Million Gift,” Raleigh News and Observer, July 14, 2021.
4. Kate Murphy, Hussman’s Contract With UNC Sheds New Light On The Strings Attached To The $25 Million Gift,” Raleigh News and Observer, July 14, 2021.
5. Hussman Family Foundation 2019 Form 990.