Media Relations: The Latest News at Vanderbilt

April 23, 1999

Martha Ingram named chairman of Vanderbilt Board of Trust

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Martha R. Ingram, chairman of Ingram Industries Inc., Friday was elected chairman of the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust. The unanimous vote came during the first day of the Board's two-day spring meeting. Ingram succeeds John R. Hall, who was elected chairman in November 1995.

"I am honored to serve as chairman of the Board of Trust," said Ingram, who was first elected to the Board in November 1995. "My family and I have a special passion for Vanderbilt, and I look forward to working with the Board, the Chancellor, the faculty and the students to continue Vanderbilt's tradition of academic and professional excellence—all with the highest integrity."

Ingram's election continues more than four decades of service on the Vanderbilt Board by a member of the Ingram family. Her husband, E. Bronson Ingram, was first elected to the Board of Trust in 1967 and served until his death in June 1995. He chaired the Board the last four years of his life. His father, Orrin Henry Ingram, served on the Board from 1952 until 1963.

Martha Ingram is a member of the Board's Executive Committee, Committee on Board Affairs and Committee on Public and Governmental Relations. The Ingram family is the University's most significant donor. Its members have funded cancer research and endowed faculty chairs and scholarships, including the Ingram Scholars Program, which rewards undergraduates for their volunteer efforts and commitment to continuing those efforts throughout their careers. More recently, the Ingram family gave the University a gift valued at the time at approximately $300 million to be used for a variety of purposes.

Martha Ingram served as director of public affairs at Ingram Industries from 1979 until she became chairman of the board in June 1995. She serves on the board of Baxter International, First American Corporation, Weyerhaeuser Company and Ingram Micro, a public company headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif. She is a member of the advisory board of IN ROADS/Nashville and was chairman of the 1996 Tennessee Bicentennial Celebration. Next week she will be inducted into the National Business Hall of Fame in Chicago.

Ingram was the guiding force behind the creation of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, which opened in 1980, and she has served as a board member for 15 years. She is currently TPAC board chairman. She is a past member of the advisory board for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

A former board member of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, she also is a board member of her alma mater, Vassar College. She has served on the boards of the United Way of Nashville and Middle Tennessee and was chairman of the United Way's Alexis de Tocqueville Society. She has chaired the Nashville Symphony Board, was a founder of the Tennessee Repertory Theater and has served on the boards of the Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera and Nashville Institute for the Arts, as well as the Nashville Symphony and Tennessee Repertory Theater.

Contact: Elizabeth Latt, 615-322-NEWS
elizabeth.p.latt@vanderbilt.edu

Vanderbilt University is a private research university of approximately 5,900 undergraduates and 4,300 graduate and professional students. Founded in 1873, the University comprises 10 schools, a public policy institute, a distinguished medical center and The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center. Vanderbilt offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education and human development, engineering and music, and a full range of graduate and professional degrees.

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