Frank Batten, the founder of Landmark Communications Inc., a Norfolk, Virginia-based media company, and his wife, Jane, have announced gifts totaling more than $170 million to several educational institutions, the Associated Press reports.

Batten, a Norfolk native, said he originally planned to leave the gifts in his will but changed his mind because the schools are struggling financially. "I'm 76 now and I felt the time had come," he told the Virginian-Pilot, a newspaper owned by his company. "I believe education is the best means for developing people — developing their lives, their minds, and their opportunity to grow economically." Landmark Communications also owns newspapers in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Roanoke, Virginia; cable television's Weather Channel; and a string of community newspapers and special-interest publications.

The couple's $32 million gift to Old Dominion University in Norfolk — the largest in the school's history — will be used to establish faculty chairs in science, engineering, and technology, as well as support faculty research. Virginia Wesleyan College, also in Norfolk, received $11.2 million, its largest gift ever, while the Norfolk Foundation received $20 million to create the Batten Educational Achievement Fund.

Several institutions that educated the Battens were also named as beneficiaries. Harvard Business School, where Batten received his MBA, was awarded $32 million to support its residential campus, while Culver Academies, the prep school he attended, received $20.8 million. Batten had previously given two gifts totaling $70 million to the University of Virginia, where he earned his undergraduate degree. Jane Batten's alma mater, Hollins University in Roanoke, also received a gift, though the amount was not disclosed.