Kenan, Frank H. (Frank Hawkins)

Frank Hawkins Kenan (1912-1996), philanthropist, businessman, and civic leader of Durham, N.C.

From the description of Frank H. Kenan papers, 1937-1996 [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 51500419

Frank Hawkins Kenan (1912-1996) was born 3 August 1912 in Atlanta, Ga. He was graduated from Woodberry Forest School in Virginia in 1931 and from the University of North Carolina with a bachelor of science in commerce in 1935. Upon graduation, he began his business career as a commission agent for Pure Oil Company. Within a year, he created Kenan Oil Company, an independent oil distribution business. From 1941 to 1945, Kenan served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy in Charleston, S.C. During this time, he continued to run Kenan Oil Company with the assistance of business associate J. H. Mallard, and he created his second company, Kenan Transport Company, which would become the largest petroleum hauler in the southeast United States. After World War II, Kenan expanded his business operations by opening Tops Petroleum, a chain of independent service stations. This purchase marked the beginning of Kenan's commercial property real estate investments. Kenan would go on to invest in many commercial and residential properties, including Europa Center, University Square, and Granville Towers in Chapel Hill, N.C., and Brightleaf Square, Erwin Square, and Treyburn in Durham, N.C. In 1964, Kenan became a director of the Flagler System, Inc., a group of family-owned companies in Florida that included the Breakers hotel. He later served as chair and chief executive officer and was instrumental in the growth of Flagler System, Inc., assets.

Kenan proved to be a great success in philanthropy as well as in business. From 1962 to 1964, Kenan was involved in groundbreaking legislation and an ensuing court case in which he successfully sought control of the estate of Sarah Graham Kenan, his aunt who had been declared incompetent by the state. The legislation made it possible for him to preserve the value of the estate by creating the Sarah Graham Kenan Foundation, which ultimately dispensed more than $22 million to charitable causes. Kenan also served on the board of trustees of the William Rand Kenan, Jr., Charitable Trust. As with his business interests, Kenan stewarded the Trust with a hands-on management style and played a prominent role in developing its creative philanthropic agenda. He guided many large gifts to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, including the funds that created the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise as an arm of the Kenan-Flagler School of Business. The Trust also gave generously to many educational programs and institutions besides the University of North Carolina, including Woodberry Forest School and the National Center for Family Literacy (sometimes called the Kenan Trust Family Literacy Project).

Kenan's civic interests included business, community, education, and church organizations. He had particularly enduring relationships with St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Durham Academy, and the Duke Endowment. In addition to his charitable contributions, Kenan frequently lent his business acumen by serving on boards of directors and trustees, as well as on development and planning committees. He served on many such boards and committees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, including the Board of Visitors and boards of directors for the medical, business, educational, arts and sciences, and institutional development foundations.

Kenan received a number of awards and honors in recognition of his leadership in education, business, and community interests. He received honorary degrees from North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, Hollins College, the University of the South, and Elon College. He also was elected to the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame, named the Outstanding Philanthropist of the Triangle, and received the North Carolina Public Service Award, the North Carolina Philanthropy Award, and the Durham Chamber of Commerce Civic Honor Award. Kenan's long relationship of service and philanthropy to the University of North Carolina was recognized in a number of awards, including the General Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Distinguished Service Award from the School of Medicine, the William R. Davie Award from the Board of Trustees, and the University Award.

Frank H. Kenan lived in Durham, N.C. He married twice. His 1936 marriage to Harriet DuBose, with whom he had sons Thomas S. Kenan III and Owen Graham Kenan, ended in divorce. In 1966, he married Elizabeth Price, with whom he had daughters Elizabeth Price Kenan and Annice Hawkins Kenan, and stepson Owen Gwyn. Kenan died 4 June 1996.

From the guide to the Frank H. Kenan Papers, 1937-1996, (Southern Historical Collection)