William P Kennedy

Mr. Kennedy has owned several pharmaceutical companies, including Rotech Medical Corporation, which he sold in 1997 for about $1-billion. Ms. Kennedy is president of Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation, an Orlando, Fla., which the couple owns. Mr. Kennedy, 66, and Ms. Kennedy, 47, pledged $30-million, of which $1-million has been paid, to the University of South Carolina, in Columbia, for its College of Pharmacy. The money will establish the William P. and Lou W. Kennedy Pharmacy Innovation Center, which will focus on providing pharmacy students with a chance to learn business skills, and provide researchers and faculty with updated labs and other programs. Mr. and Ms. Kennedy plan to pay $1-million a year over 10 years. The university will receive the remaining $20-million upon the donors’ deaths. Both donors are alumni of the university: Mr. Kennedy earned his bachelor of science degree in pharmacy in 1966, and Ms. Kennedy graduated in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.