Virginia Wesleyan University will change its name to Batten University in July 2026 to honor longtime university donor Jane Batten and her late husband, Frank Batten, co-founder of The Weather Channel, university officials announced Wednesday. The Board of Trustees voted unanimously in favor of the name change. 

The Batten name is already all over the Virginia Beach campus, which first opened its doors in 1961. The family has gifted millions to the university since their daughter Mary enrolled in 1978, contributing funds to the $22 million Jane P. Batten Student Center, the $80.3 million endowed Batten Honors College and the $20 million Greer Environmental Sciences Center, to name a few projects. Each year, the Battens also support eight Batten professors and provide 80 students with full scholarships and another 80 students with three-quarter scholarships.

University spokespeople declined to say how much money the Batten family has gifted the university to date, citing the family’s wish not to share financial details.

“There is no other visionary philanthropist like Jane Batten,” Scott Miller, president of the university, said in a statement. “Her progressive thinking and innovative vision for this University have made it what it is today.”

Jane Batten has also supported other universities in the state, including the University of Virginia and William & Mary, to which she donated $100 million in 2024—the largest gift in the institution’s history—to expand its marine science program.