The Batten Legacy — Jane and Frank Batten
The names of Jane and Frank Batten are synonymous with the growth and prosperity of Virginia Wesleyan University. Every aspect of the campus—academic, student life, athletics, endowment, and facilities—has been touched by their visionary leadership and philanthropic support.
Frank Batten, Sr.
Frank Batten, Sr., was an internationally known businessman and co-founder of the first nationwide, 24-hour cable weather channel, The Weather Channel. His media company, Landmark Media Enterprises, once owned nine daily newspapers, more than 50 weekly newspapers, television stations in Las Vegas and Nashville, and a national chain of classified advertising publications.
After graduating from the University of Virginia and Harvard University, Mr. Batten assumed leadership in 1954 of two newspapers, The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, parlaying those papers into a media conglomerate by acquiring other newspapers, radio stations, and television stations, and establishing a cable outlet as well as the national cable channel, The Weather Channel. Until 2008, Landmark Communications, now Landmark Media Enterprises, was one of the country’s largest privately held media companies. He sold TeleCable (a multi-system cable TV company) in 1995 to TCI for $1 billion and The Weather Channel in 2008 to NBC Universal and two private equity firms for nearly $3.5 billion. Batten was chairman of the Associated Press from 1982 to 1987.
Frank Batten passed away on September 10, 2009.
Jane Parke Batten
A native of Norfolk and alumna of Hollins University, Jane Parke Batten’s interest in Virginia Wesleyan was kindled when her daughter, Betsy, enrolled as a freshman in 1978. Mrs. Batten joined the Board of Trustees in 1981, served as Board Chair from 1995-1998, and became a Trustee Emerita in 2015. As chair, she molded and led a Board that was informed, focused, and challenged to move Virginia Wesleyan forward. Her role in the development and revitalization of Virginia Wesleyan reflects her high standard of service and commitment. At the conclusion of her term as Chair, Mr. Batten made the lead contribution for the construction of the Jane P. Batten Student Center, a state-of-the-art multi-purpose facility that remains today as the envy of private colleges in Virginia. The $22 million facility opened in 2002. In addition to the student center, the Battens funded a number of endowed faculty positions, student scholarships, and an outstanding faculty award. Frank Batten was recognized with a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, in 2002. Jane Batten was honored with the Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, in 2006.
Jane Batten's Contributions and Vision
In 2015, Mrs. Batten revealed a futuristic collaborative vision for Virginia Wesleyan when she announced a gift to fund a national award-winning 44,000-square-foot environmental sciences center and surrounding gardens. In 2016, Mrs. Batten shared her vision for the establishment of an honors college (Batten Honors College) at Virginia Wesleyan: to prepare academically advanced and socially engaged students to lead society’s progressions and institutions with innovative approaches and ethical values that steward an environment threatened by global degradation and climate change. Mrs. Batten knew that bright, young, and motivated individuals would be the ones to solve the environmental issues of today and the future, and she trusted the Virginia Wesleyan liberal arts education to equip students with the analytical, synthetic, and resolution-oriented skills to address environmental degradation and surmount a plethora of other challenges in the world. The three pillars of the highly selective, elite Batten Honors College focus on the environment, civic engagement (community and global), and leadership.
In addition to the Batten Honors College (with an $80.3 million endowment), the Battens' legacy and generosity at Virginia Wesleyan University includes the Jane P. Batten Student Center, the Batten Professors (all faculty in the BHC), the Frank and Jane P. Batten Distinguished Scholar Award (for faculty), and the BHC Batten Scholars, which includes 80 fully endowed scholarships and 80 three-fourths endowed scholarships. In addition to the Jane P. Batten Student Center and Greer Environmental Sciences Center, Mrs. Batten has supported numerous other capital projects around campus, including The Beacon (bell tower, 2019), the decorative, landscaped entrances to the University (2018), Birdsong Field (2015), and an extensive corrective maintenance project tied to the 10-year Campus Master Plan: Transformation Now! (2015).
In 2020, she made an unspecified gift to fund a collaborative for VWU Global Campus with Lakeland University in Tokyo, Japan. In 2024, Mrs. Batten made an unspecified gift to charter the Jane P. Batten & David R. Black School for International Studies, a joint venture of Virginia Wesleyan University and Lakeland (WI) University at the collaborative campus in Japan. Over 400 students are enrolled there.
In 2023, Mrs. Batten made a lead gift to establish the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art at Virginia Wesleyan University. Construction on the 35,000-square-foot building started in July 2024 with completion expected in January 2026.
Legacy and Leadership
The family’s leadership continues to assure Virginia Wesleyan’s place among the top private liberal arts colleges in the country. Mr. Batten served as the Vice Chair of the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia (SCHEV). Outside of Virginia, the Battens have made notable gifts to Harvard Business School and Culver Academies in Indiana (Mr. Batten’s prep alma mater). Mrs. Batten was honored by the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges in 2024 for her transformative support of private education in Virginia.
Mrs. Batten is also active in a number of other civic and philanthropic endeavors, including E3: Elevate Early Education, the Slover Library Foundation, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. The CIVIC Leadership Institute presented her with the 2014 Darden Award for Regional Leadership, and in 2013 she was named one of the Most Influential Virginians by Virginia Business. The Norfolk Cosmopolitan Club declared Mrs. Batten as Norfolk’s First Citizen and gave her the Cosmopolitan Distinguished Service Award Medal in 2010, an honor also bestowed upon her husband in 1966.
The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at UVA, the Frank Batten College of Engineering at ODU, and the Batten School of Coastal and Marine Science at W&M, are named in their honor.
The Battens have three children: Dorothy, Betsy, and Frank, Jr.