$24 Million Gift Pushes University of Montana to Raise Money for New Forestry Building
The Missoulian (October 23, 2016)

The University of Montana has received a $24 million pledge for the College of Forestry and Conservation and the Global Leadership Initiative from Bill Franke and his family. Both programs would be renamed in honor of the Franke family. The pledge agreement also calls for UM to present a proposal for a new forestry building.

The historic $24 million pledge to the University of Montana pushes the campus to raise money for a new building for the College of Forestry and Conservation. Earlier this month, UM announced that Bill and Carolyn Franke and their children had pledged the largest single gift in the history of the campus. Bill Franke is an airline magnate and the family has a home in the Bigfork area and an interest in conservation and education.

Franke also is the former CEO of Southwest Forest Industries, which was later purchased and became part of Smurfit-Stone Container. Smurfit operated a plant in Frenchtown until 2010.