About Donald W. Reynolds
Donald W. Reynolds spent his career in journalism, and now the foundation that bears his name funds journalism programs around the country. Photos and text courtesy of the Reynolds Foundation.
It’s often difficult to fully measure the impact one person can make, and the life of Donald W. Reynolds bears out that axiom. Reynolds’ business acumen, coupled with a generous spirit, yielded a lifetime of philanthropy that has positively affected millions. Before his death in 1993, Reynolds bestowed millions of dollars to benefit charitable organizations and the communities in which he conducted business. Today, the foundation that carries his name continues his philanthropy, conferring grants and gifts for medical research, health and human services programs, educational, cultural and historical endeavors, improvement of the practice of journalism, and much more.
Media entrepreneur Donald Worthington Reynolds was born in 1906 to Anna Louise and Gaines W. Reynolds. He and his younger sister, Lois, spent their childhood in Oklahoma City. It was there that the young Reynolds first began working in the industry in which he would achieve tremendous success, “hawking” copies of the Oklahoma News at the railroad depot.
The ambitious young man soon realized the newspaper business was in his blood, and he set his sights on the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. He worked during high school and successive summers at a meat packing plant to pay for his studies.
Upon graduation in 1927, Reynolds worked in a variety of newspaper-oriented positions. With $1,000 in capital (part of which he borrowed), he invested in his first business enterprise, a photo engraving plant. Using the profits from this venture, he purchased and then sold his first newspaper, the Quincy (Massachusetts) Evening News. The proceeds were used to purchase the Okmulgee (Oklahoma) Daily Times and the Southwest (Arkansas) Times Record, the two publications that launched the Donrey Media Group.
During World War II, Reynolds served in military intelligence and, later, as the officer in charge of the Pacific and London editions of YANK, which often was referred to as the “soldiers’ newspaper.” He was honorably discharged in 1945 as a major, having received the Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Bronze Star during his military service.
After the war, Reynolds expanded his business enterprise, ultimately owning more than 100 businesses in the newspaper, radio, television, cable television and outdoor advertising industries. He focused his business acumen on businesses located in small but growth-oriented communities, and these communities often were the recipients of the foundation’s earliest charitable grants.
As Donrey Media Group grew, so did the foundation and Reynolds’ charitable giving. During his later years, he awarded some of his largest gifts through the foundation, including $9.5 million to his alma mater to construct an alumni center, $4 million to create the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism and Center for Advanced Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, and $4 million to develop the Donald W. Reynolds Student Services Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Upon Reynolds’ death in 1993, the Donrey Media Group, one of the nation’s largest privately held media companies, was sold. This resulted in a substantial bequest from the Reynolds estate to provide for the foundation’s endowment, permitting creation of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation as a separate entity no longer affiliated with the Donrey Media Group. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation supports a variety of giving programs, including Capital Grants, Aging and Quality of Life, Cardiovascular Clinical Research, and Journalism.
Preparing for the next opportunity was Reynolds’ life work. His foundation strives to keep that standard alive, establishing programs and bestowing gifts to organizations that will create their own opportunities, strengthening our society and carrying forth the legacy of Donald W. Reynolds.