Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, has announced a $2.5 million gift from JM Family Enterprises, Inc. to endow a professorship at its law school.

The gift, combined with an additional $1 million in matching funds from the Duke Endowment through its Duke Law Faculty Endowment Challenge, will endow a fund in support of a faculty position in the name of Duke alumnus Colin W. Brown, president and CEO of JM Family Enterprises. The challenge, announced last November, provides matching funds for donor commitments toward a new endowed faculty chair, professor of the practice, or clinical professor position at the law school.

Brown, who graduated from Duke Law in 1974, is the first non-family member to hold the president or CEO title at the family-owned automotive corporation. He joined the company in 1992 as vice president and general counsel, was subsequently appointed chief operating officer, and was named president in 2000 and CEO in 2003. A longtime supporter of Duke, Brown is a member of the law school's board of visitors and in 2014 received the Law Alumni Association’s Charles S. Rhyne Award, which recognizes graduates whose careers exemplify the highest standards of professionalism, personal integrity, and commitment to education or community service.

"Endowing a professorship enables Duke to invest in exceptional faculty who will help shape conversations on important societal issues as well as challenge and inspire our students," said Duke University president Richard H. Brodhead. "We're grateful to JM Family Enterprises for this generous gift honoring our distinguished Duke Law alumnus, Colin Brown."