$10 million new gift to university from Kenneth Dixon for career services and athletics
A University of Central Florida (UCF) alumnus with a long history of giving back to the school is pledging another $10 million donation.
Kenneth Dixon has donated more $15 million over the past 20 years, the school said. His latest $10 million gift will be spent on career services and athletics.
UCF thanked Dixon for the major donation, calling it “transformational.”
“Ken’s friendship to UCF has had a transformative impact on our university that will be felt for decades to come,” said UCF President Alexander Cartwright. “We are grateful for his support of our students, university, and athletics enterprise.”
“My UCF education prepared me for a successful career in business, and it is with great pride that I invest in President Cartwright’s priority to help our students succeed by graduating, landing gainful employment and fueling our region’s human capital needs,” Dixon said in a statement.
“Additionally, I am excited about the Knights’ future in the Big 12 and helping further enhance our athletics facilities and deliver championship-caliber resources to win big.”
Dixon gets triple the name recognition at UCF.
School trustees voted to name North Orion Boulevard to the Ken Dixon Way running through the Kenneth G. Dixon Athletics Village.
The school also said $5 million of his pledge will go toward funding the newly named Kenneth G. Dixon Career Development Center to help students get ready for their future careers.
“In academic year 2023-24, more than 9,000 students and nearly 500 employers participated in Career Services’ career and internship expos, and more than 10,300 attendees participated in resume and career exploration workshops.
Dixon’s gift will enable the expansion of these offerings and create new platforms and spaces to enhance career readiness,” the school said in a statement.
Ken Dixon is the founder and CEO of Leland Enterprises, Inc.
Leland is a diversified real estate company located in Central Florida. Leland is active in all phases of multifamily housing, including acquisition, development, construction, management and brokerage. In addition, he is involved in various other businesses including home building, lending, investment banking and land development.
Prior to entering the real estate business, Dixon was a practicing Certified Public Accountant in Orlando, Florida, and Washington DC with the international accounting firm Price Waterhouse (currently known as PricewaterhouseCoopers). During his career as a CPA, he served a variety of large- and medium-sized corporations including Walt Disney World, Tupperware and the Orlando Sentinel, as well as numerous real estate oriented clients.
He has an accounting degree from the University of Central Florida and a management degree from the University of South Florida. He currently serves as a member and director of numerous charitable and non-profit organizations throughout Central Florida. He is the benefactor to the Kenneth G Dixon School of Accounting at the University of Central Florida. He was inducted into the UCF College of Business Hall of Fame in 2005.