Brownlee_O._Currey,_Jr.

Brownlee O. Currey Jr.

Brownlee O. Currey Jr.

American businessman (1928–2020)

Brownlee Owen Currey Jr. (August 14, 1928 – March 18, 2020) was an American businessman and philanthropist.[1][2][3]

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Early life

Currey was born in Nashville on August 14, 1928.[4] Currey's father, Brownlee O. Currey, was the owner of the conservative newspaper Nashville Banner.

Career

Currey co-founded Equitable Securities with his father, Brownlee O. Currey.[3] In 1967, it merged with American Express, and he received a sizeable stock portfolio in the company.[3] In 1979, he bought the Nashville Banner from the Gannett Company, and sold it back to them in 1998, for an additional $25 million.[3] He sat on the Board of Directors of Thomas Nelson, where he held a $2.3 million stake.[2][3] He served as President of Currey Investments.[2] He served as Chairman of the Board of OCC, Inc., the Star Communications's principal subsidiary, since 1989.[2]

Philanthropy

Currey's donations have helped build Montgomery Bell Academy's Currey Gymnasium, Vanderbilt University's Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center, and the Currey Ingram Academy in Williamson County, Tennessee.[3][5] He served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the United States Equestrian Team and as a Trustee of the Phelps Media Group, a public relations and marketing firm dedicated to the equestrian industry.[6][7] He also sat on the Board of Trustees of the National Foundation for Facial Reconstruction, the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and Vanderbilt University.[2] Professor Richard L. Daft is the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Professor of Management at Vanderbilt, as is Professor Bruce Barry.[8][9] The Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Gallery at the Watkins College of Art, Design & Film in Nashville is named in his honor.[10]

Personal life

Currey was married to Agneta Currey.[3] They had a son, Christian Brownlee Currey, and two daughters, Stephanie Currey Ingram (married to John R. Ingram) and Frances Currey Briggs.[3] They owned River Circle Farm in Williamson County, a 300-plus-acre property around the Harpeth River.[3] They also owned a home in Manhattan, Southampton, New York and Wellington, Florida.[3] He was an avid tennis player.[3] In 2002, he was named the tenth richest person in Middle Tennessee.[3] He died on March 18, 2020, aged 91.[11]

References

  1. [1]
    Brownlee Owen Currey Jr.
  2. [2]
    Bloomberg BusinessWeek[dead link]
  3. [3]
    Brian A. Courtney, The Rich List 2002, NashvillePost.com, July 1, 2002
  4. [4]
    Who's Who in the South and Southwest, 1984-1985. 1984. ISBN 9780837908199.
  5. [5]
    "Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center". Archived from the original on April 12, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  6. [6]
    United States Equestrian Team Board of Trustees
  7. [7]
    "Phelps Media Group". Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  8. [8]
    Richard L. Daft's faculty webpage
  9. [9]
    Bruce Barry's faculty webpage
  10. [10]
    Brownlee O. Currey, Jr. Gallery Archived August 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  11. [11]
    Owens, Ann Marie Deer (March 27, 2020). "Alumnus and philanthropist Brownlee O. Currey Jr. has died". vanderbilt.edu. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Brownlee_O._Currey,_Jr., and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.