Franklin College Trustee Rob Brown, left, and his wife Ruth.
Provided photo
Franklin College has received $4.5 million in gifts from a trustee.
Trustee Robert B. “Rob” Brown and his wife, Ruth, have designated a $4 million estate gift to the college. Additionally, they have pledged a $500,000 gift toward the renovation and restoration of the Elwood Fitness Center, Franklin College officials announced Monday.
“Rob and Ruth are incredibly devoted supporters of Franklin College,” said President Kerry N. Prather, in a news release. “Their generosity has made a profound and lasting difference in the lives of countless Franklin students through their support of many important initiatives. A previous recent gift from the Browns enabled the renovation of the Center for Tech Innovation, and this expression of confidence in Franklin College inspires the entire campus community. We are deeply grateful for their enduring commitment to the institution.”
Rob Brown has served as a Franklin College trustee since 2014. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from DePauw University and a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana University. He served in multiple executive roles at Eli Lilly and Co. from 1985 to 2018, last serving as the senior vice president and chief marketing officer. He then joined Brickell Biotech, LLC, as the CEO, retiring in 2023, according to the news release.
He also has family roots at the college. His stepfather, the late Jim Hoover, was a Franklin College trustee from 1999 to 2012. His mother, the late Carroll Brown Hoover, was a loyal friend of the college too, the news release says.
Ruth Brown also graduated from DePauw University majoring in computational mathematics. She worked for over a decade as a computer programmer in the insurance software industry, then joined Citicorp POS, helping to write one of the first point-of-sale supermarket software systems, according to the news release.
“Our family has always placed great importance on giving back to the community,” Rob Brown said in the news release. “Although neither Ruth nor I attended Franklin, we both value the importance of a liberal arts education, and have loved becoming a part of the Franklin family. We hope these gifts will help the college continue to shape the lives of students for years to come.”
The Browns’ estate commitment is undesignated and therefore not restricted for any specific purpose, which college officials say gives them the flexibility to focus on priority areas of need at the time the gift is funded.
However, the $500,000 gift is specifically directed toward the renovation and restoration of the Elwood Fitness Center to enhance its facilities and update its infrastructure to better serve the needs of students. The Elwood Fitness Center was constructed in 1908 and expanded in the 1920s to accommodate the large crowds following the Franklin Wonder Five basketball team which was crowned national champion in 1923, according to the news release.
College officials say the renovation and restoration of the facility will preserve the historic integrity of its exterior while fully modernizing the interior spaces. Those will include the Wonder Five Court and aerobic equipment on the main level as well as locker rooms, offices and support areas on the lower level for the athletic teams which compete in adjacent Faught Stadium.
“Planned gifts provide a robust and sustainable future for generations of Franklin College students,” said Nora Brems, vice president for institutional advancement, in a news release. “Generous donors like Rob and Ruth understand the importance of supporting our current students while also making a significant impact on our campus community for many years to come.”
Correction: 9:33 a.m. Sept. 24
A previous version of this story misidentified Ruth Brown in a photo caption. It has since been fixed.
