Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, has announced a gift of stock valued at $250 million from the A. Eugene Brockman Charitable Trust to establish the Brockman Scholars Program in Leadership and Entrepreneurship.

The shares of Universal Computer Systems, Inc. will be used to create an endowment that funds forty Brockman Scholarships a year for students majoring in economics and the natural and computational sciences. Selected on the basis of merit — including their ability to think creatively, leadership aspirations, and commitment to hard work — Brockman Scholars will receive a full scholarship covering tuition, room and board, and fees, along with funds to support study abroad and summer research and internship opportunities.

The largest outright gift ever to a private liberal arts college also is the lead gift in the college's $500 million Third Century Campaign. Robert Brockman, chairman and CEO of Reynolds and Reynolds, which merged with Universal Computer Systems in 2006, attended Centre College for two years and is a former chairman of the college's board of trustees. He is also the son of A. Eugene Brockman, who created the charitable trust in 1981. In 2011, the trust gave the college $15 million toward construction of the Brockman Commons housing complex.

"This magnificent gift establishing the Brockman Scholars Program marks a fundamental transformation in Centre College's ability to support students whose hard work, character, and intellect have demonstrated their potential for leadership," said Centre College president John A. Roush. "The problems and the opportunities confronting our nation and world are increasingly complex, and the Brockman Scholars Program will empower talented young women and men with the knowledge, creativity, and integrity necessary to address them."