By Chuck Wasserstrom
A $1.5 million gift from the Jack and Charlotte Frost Family Foundation will establish a new Frost Family Investment Fund at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
The Frost Family Investment Fund will support the Veterans Entrepreneurship Alumni Program, provide skills and support for startup businesses in underserved areas and create undergraduate scholarships focused exclusively on supporting students across the UTC campus who are either military veterans themselves, the children of veterans, the children of first responders or currently enrolled in ROTC.
“The Frosts are a close-knit family with a deep connection to UTC and Chattanooga. The University and our mission to engage students, inspire change and enrich community are embedded in them,” Chancellor Steven R. Angle said. “Going back to Jack Frost, a University of Chattanooga graduate and the family patriarch, through his children and grandchildren, UTC has had a tremendous impact on their family, and they have had a great impact on UTC.
“With this generous gift, the Frost Family Foundation demonstrates their genuine belief in the work we do at UTC. It is so meaningful that the family worked together to establish a gift supporting our students and programs.”
The announcement was made during the University’s annual Scholarship Luncheon program on March 1st.
“The Frost family’s gift is going to provide so many opportunities for our students and allow them to have meaningful and engaging experiences,” said Kim White, UTC vice chancellor for development and alumni affairs and executive director of the University of Chattanooga Foundation. “The Frosts embody the Mocs spirit, and we are grateful they have chosen to invest in our university and our incredible students.”
Jack Frost, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 90, graduated from the University of Chattanooga in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He later was an accounting instructor at the University.
He was involved in the startup and operation of nearly 20 businesses during his professional career encompassing financial services, technology, manufacturing and distribution, including Tuftco Corp.—a Chattanooga-based company that manufactures carpet-making machinery and sells its products worldwide. In 2006, he was inducted into the Gary W. Rollins College of Business Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame.
Jack and Charlotte Frost were married for 62 years before she passed away in 2014.