BGSU takes its donations seriously, whether it be a dime or a million dollars. Forty years ago Ashel Bryan donated a dime. Last Thursday he donated $1 million.

‘I make a regular contribution each year,’ said Bryan, a Bowling Green resident.

In the 1960s Bryan was stopped while walking and asked by a fundraiser chairman if he had made a donation to the University.

Bryan donated all he had in his pocket – a dime.

‘I thought it was just a joke,’ Bryan said. But two days later, he received a receipt in the mail.

That receipt showed Bryan how much honesty and determination the University had to build something that would help students in the future.

Forty years later he is still helping University students.

Bryan’s estate commitment was announced at the Tri-Board dinner last week.

He designated $850,000 to the Aviation Studies Program and $150,000 to the maintenance and upkeep of Bryan Recital Hall, which was named after him and his late wife Dorothy Uber Bryan after a leadership donation in 1978.

Bryan made this donation to the Aviation Studies Program because he served as an Army Air Corps cadet in World War II prior to attending BGSU.

He lost hearing in his left ear during the war and spent nine months in a hospital. He thanks losing his hearing because he believes it saved his life. Many cadets from his class were killed on a mission he would have been on, had he not been in the hospital.

Later in his life he was asked by the then-director of the new bank in Bowling Green, Sky Bank, if he wanted a job. Bryan started working there when the bank was eight months old and continued until he retired in 1985 when he was working as chairman and chief executive.

The money from his donation to be used for the upkeep of Bryan Recital Hall was a pleasant surprise to Richard Kennel, dean of the College of Musical Arts.

‘Bryan Recital Hall is the most important room [here], in fact,’ Kennel said.

Incoming students are greeted there and seniors perform their senior recitals in the hall, Kennel said.

‘Every time we use it we are thankful of the Bryan family’s generosity,’ Kennel said. ‘If it were not funded, it would not be here.’

This year’s contribution was part of the Building Dreams campaign.

By the end of October, $103 million of $120 million will have been donated to the University, said Marcia Sloan Latta, campaign director and senior associate vice president for University advancement.

There has been 55,000 contributors from all over the United States and from alumni in other countries, Latta said.

In addition to the donations that Bryan has made, he has held many positions on campus, including chairman of the Board of Trustees.

‘Ashel Bryan is an alumnus who consistently has demonstrated support for his alma mater. He is an outstanding businessman, a gentleman and a true friend of BGSU,’ said BGSU President Sidney Ribeau. ‘Not only has he been generous with his financial contributions, he also has been a strong leader of various boards and programs across campus.’

While he was chairman, he took the president of the University, Hollis Moore, to France, Austria and Spain to visit the sister-campuses of BGSU.

Bryan said he felt it was necessary for the president to see these universities, so he funded the visit.

He also funded visits to the Chilean embassy to speak with Chili’s president, and to Korea.

Funding visits and donating money is part of Bryan’s lifestyle.

‘We have many opportunities to be reminded of the Bryans’ generosity. Every time you turn around, there’s something important that came from their vision and generosity,’ Kennel said.