sRetired Raymond James Financial chief financial officer Lynn Pippenger, whose name adorns the recently opened centerpiece building at the Kate Tiedemann College of Business on the campus of USF St. Petersburg, was named Thursday as the "Philanthropist of the Year" by the Suncoast Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
"It is a great honor and I'm quite surprised I was even thought of for this distinction," Pippenger stated during a breakfast at USFSP honoring her selection.
The school is one of a handful nationwide in which both a business college and its building are named for women.
Pippenger attended USFSP during the 1980s, and last year gave a $5 million gift to the university to support merit scholarships for full- and part-time undergraduate students who are studying accounting and finance.
She has also given more than $21 million to USF Muma College of Business in Tampa. Earlier this year, Pippenger and donor Tiedemann seeded $250,000 each to fund the new Wealth Management Center at USFSP, where students apply real-world investment skills in managing an IRA, trading stocks and managing clients' wealth. In 2014, Tiedemann donated $10 million to USF St. Petersburg, prompting the naming of the business college in her name. And in 2015, USF's School of Accountancy was named for Pippenger.