A Bigfork family’s name will adorn the University of Montana’s forestry school building after the Frankes donated $24 million — the university’s largest gift to date.

The UM System Board of Regents on Nov. 18 approved the naming of the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation and the Franke Global Leadership Initiative in honor of Bill and Carolyn Franke, whose family provided the donation.

“We are both humbled and affirmed by the Frankes’ thoughtful investment in UM,” university president Royce Engstrom stated in a press release. “The ongoing work of the College of Forestry and Conservation and Global Leadership Initiative will have a profound impact on our future.”

While not an alumnus of the state university in Missoula, Indigo Partners founder Bill Franke noted that UM faculty members have been invited to speak to a group of the family’s business partners during the company’s annual business retreat in Montana.

“As we became familiar with the educational opportunities, research and special programs at the University of Montana, it was clear to us the university is a hidden gem,” Franke said in the release. “It is our expectation that the College of Forestry and Conservation’s work will help keep Montana the beautiful place that it is. And we are believers that the Global Leadership Initiative will train students to look beyond their own experiences and home geography to recognize that we live in a global economy.”

Indigo Partners is a private-equity firm focused on worldwide investments in air transportation, and the press release noted that Franke has also served as a CEO for several public companies, including America West Airlines.

During his early career in the timber industry, he lived on the Hi-Line and fell in love with the Big Sky Country. Bill and his wife, Carolyn, divide time between Texas and Arizona but have owned a home near Bigfork since the 1990s, maintaining their connection to the forests, rivers and lakes of Western Montana.

Of the total donation, $18 million will fuel education and research in the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, providing competitive fellowship awards to faculty and graduate students, funding for undergraduates to learn about conservation through study abroad and service learning projects and scholarships for both graduate and undergraduate students.

It will also fund two faculty positions in forest conservation and watershed hydrology and support student internships.

Six million dollars will fund scholarships for Franke Global Leadership Initiative, which provides students with opportunities including internships, service learning, study abroad, research and field experiences.