November 2002

Coggins' gift has lasting benefits for UNF

Luther Coggin

The College of Business Administration has a new name and the University has the largest gift in its history courtesy of automobile business executive Luther Coggin and his wife, Blanche.
The Coggins recently announced a $5 million gift to the College of Business Administration at a ceremony on the deck of the Boathouse. The Coggins' gift is expected to double to $10 million because of an anticipated one-for-one state match.

The College of Business Administration is now the Coggin College of Business Administration as the large white letters on the side of Building 42 proudly proclaim. The Coggin announcement capped a banner day at the University. Access to Excellence, UNF's capital campaign, has reached $74 million. The Coggins' gift boosted the Campaign total past its $65 million goal a year sooner than anticipated.

The total includes a $1 million gift by an anonymous donor announced on the same day as the Coggin gift.

UNF Interim President David Kline said the Coggins' gift will be transformational. It will be crucial in providing scholarships and professorships that will enable the College of Business Administration to continue to play a major role in the educational and economic life of Northeast Florida, he said.

"A gift of this magnitude is unprecedented in University history and is a significant milestone for UNF especially as we celebrate our 30th anniversary," Kline said. "The Coggins' long history of generosity to this institution is an inspiration to all of us. We are grateful for the gift and honored by their expression of commitment to the future of this University," he said.

"For 30 years, UNF has been and is today, exemplary of the great contributions a new institution can make to its community and to higher education," Luther Coggin said. "We are honored to be able to provide additional funds to enable the School of Business faculty to teach and its students to learn the pathways to the world of free enterprise."
Dr. Earle Traynham, dean of the Coggin College of Business Administration, noted the national significance of the record-setting gift. "Merit-based scholarships and fellowships will help to attract outstanding students while the endowed professorships will aid in the recruitment of top-level academics," Traynham said. "The faculty and I are extremely proud to have the Coggin name associated with the college. The quality and reputation inherent in this widely recognized name will heighten the University's own visibility in the region and across the country. With this naming, the college is now even better positioned to develop a national reputation."
In recognition of Traynham's contributions to UNF and the College of Business Administration, Coggin requested that a professorship be named in Traynham's honor. Traynham has announced his intentions to step down from the deanship next year and return to teaching.

Under terms of the gift, $1.25 million will be used to endow merit-based scholarships for entering freshmen; $500,000 to endow graduate fellowships; $250,000 to endow need-based Pathways to Success Scholarships; $1 million to endow a distinguished dean professorship; and $2 million to endow strategic professorships in the college. Each of these amounts will be doubled through the state's Major Gifts Challenge Grant Program.

Coggin, a member of the UNF Board of Trustees, and his wife, Blanche, have a long history of philanthropy at UNF. In 1997 the Coggins made a $350,000 gift to UNF, which also was used to fund scholarships and a professorship and purchase equipment for the college's new building.
The Coggin name is well known in Northeast Florida because of Luther Coggin's prominent history with the car industry. Coggin began his automotive career in 1948 at age 17 as a salesman in Birmingham, Ala., and later became general manager of a large Oldsmobile dealership in Marianna, Fla. In 1968 he moved to Jacksonville and opened Coggin Pontiac with 40 employees.

He expanded his business by purchasing dealerships in Orlando and Ft. Pierce In 1997 Coggin Automotive grew to more than $500 million in revenues and operated 11 dealerships.

Coggin sold his auto dealerships in 1998 to Asbury Automotive Group Inc., a Connecticut-based car dealership company that includes the Coggin dealerships. Today, it is the largest subsidiary of Asbury with more than $800 million in revenues, 16 dealerships and 1,200 employees.