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NEWSWilliamson family donates $5 million
The family of the late Warren P. Williamson Jr., founder of the WKBN Broadcasting Corp., is donating $5 million to Youngstown State University for the construction of a new building for the Williamson College of Business Administration. It is the largest gift in YSU’s history. “This historic donation reflects the continued generosity and commitment of the Williamson family to this university and the community at large,” YSU President David C. Sweet said today in announcing the gift at a campus news conference. “This gift will help YSU construct a facility for the Williamson College of Business Administration that provides state-of-the-art classrooms and labs for students and faculty, space for the college’s centers, and provides meeting and conference facilities to serve the region’s business community.” Representing the Williamson family, Warren P. Williamson III said: “Our family owes a great deal to this community, which has nourished it over the last 200 years. We are pleased to be able to support Youngstown State University, which will continue to serve the people of this community for years to come.” The Williamson family’s support of YSU’s business college dates to 1981, when Warren P. Williamson Jr. donated $400,000 to the university. In turn, the business college was named the Warren P. Williamson Jr. College of Business Administration and the college’s building on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Phelps Street was named Williamson Hall. In addition, the college started the Williamson Symposium, an executive-on-campus program that brings nationally recognized business leaders and business scholars to YSU. In 1992, Williamson donated $1 million to start the Williamson Center for International Business. The center supports the globalization of the business school curriculum, faculty research and development, partnerships with universities in other countries, and provides outreach services to the business community. In 1994, Williamson donated an additional $500,000 to the business college. Betty Jo Licata, dean of the Williamson College of Business Administration, noted that this latest gift comes on the 25th anniversary of the naming of the business college after Warren P. Williamson Jr. and the 80th anniversary of Williamson’s first radio broadcast. “The Williamson name in the Mahoning Valley and beyond is synonymous with hard work, innovation and a pioneering spirit,” Licata said. “The university is proud to be associated with the Williamson family for a quarter of a century, and the college of business is honored to carry the family’s name on both the college and our new building.” Warren P. Williamson Jr., who died in 1996 at the age of 96, started Radio Station WKBN in Sept. 26, 1926, in his home on the South Side of Youngstown . On Thanksgiving Day in 1926, the station became one of the first radio stations in the nation to broadcast a local football game. The next year, operations moved to studios in the YMCA in downtown Youngstown. In 1947, the station added FM broadcasting. In 1953, WKBN-TV Channel 27 was introduced. In 1983, WKBN organized Wilcom Corp. as a subsidiary for the purpose of entering the nascent cellular telephone business. This business grew rapidly in 1985, when Wilcom began operations of one of the early cellular telephone services. Under the name Sygnet Corp., it eventually grew to provide services in eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and western New York state. This business was sold in 1999 to Dobson Wiress Corp. In 1997, the Williamson family sold WKBN-TV Channel 27 to Gocom, which later became Piedmont Television. Two years later, the family sold WKBN and WKBN-FM to Jacor Communications. Four months later, Clear Channel Communications purchased Jacor. While running the business, Williamson was also active in the community, serving 27 years on the Youngstown Board of Education (18 years as president). He also was active for more than 20 years as a director of the Mahoning National Bank, where he served on its Executive Committee. He was also active in the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, Youngstown Area Development Foundation and the Ohio Association of Broadcasters. He received numerous awards, including the Federation of Eagles’ Humanitarian Award, Youngstown Jaycees’ Frank Purnell Award, the Chamber of Commerce Award for Civic Leadership, the Man of the Year Award from the Ohio Association of Broadcasters, the YSU Alumni Society’s Distinguished Citizens Award and the Boss of the Year Award from the Youngstown/Mahoning Ohio National Secretaries Chapter. The new, $30 million business college building is the cornerstone of YSU’s Centennial Master Plan. The building is estimated to be 110,000 square feet, about twice the size of the current facility. In addition to the state of the art classrooms and faculty offices, the building will include public gathering spaces, a conference center, large auditorium, team rooms, and space for the Williamson Center for International Business, the Center for Nonprofit Leadership, the Monus Entrepreneurship Center and the Small Business Development Center. Licata said the building will support the college’s priorities of education, partnerships, access and success of the students, faculty, staff, businesses, and community. The Williamson College of Business Administration, with more than 1,850 students,40 faculty and 15,000 alumni, is accredited by AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. AACSB accreditation represents the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide. Less than one-third of U.S. business schools and only 15 percent of business schools worldwide meet AACSB standards. The college, which offers three associate degrees, a bachelor of science degree in business administration with eight majors, and a master’s of business administration degree, includes the Department of Accounting and Finance, the Department of Management and the Department of Marketing. This year also marks the 35th anniversary of the MBA program at YSU.
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