The family of the late auto dealer and entrepreneur Ken Garff has made a $3 million donation to the University of Utah to help fund a reconstruction and remodeling project at the business school, set to be completed five years from now, the business dean said Thursday.

The current Kendall D. Garff building within the David Eccles School of Business complex at the U. will be renamed the Ken Garff building, to reflect the name "that is known so well in the community," said Jack Brittain, business school dean.

"This gift is extremely significant in making this dream go forward," Brittain said. The projected 190,000-square-foot complex will cost more than $100 million to complete and will increase classroom sizes and faculty and student work spaces.

Garff's son, Robert Garff, presented the university with a check from the Ken Garff Automotive Group, continuing the Garff family's association with the business school, which began in 1932 when Ken Garff graduated and started his dealership.

"We hope this donation will help create a center of learning, a center of lifting and a center of vision," Robert Garff said.

U. President Michael K. Young said Ken Garff "has always known where resources would make the most difference." Garff has made donations to various facilities and programs across campus, including the schools of business and medicine.

In addition to the gift for the business school, Garff Enterprises donated a one-year lease to a fully-loaded Saab 9.3 to Lynsie Ogden, a freshman studying modern dance. She was the winner of a contest at the U. that requires students to locate and text a series of secret codes to Spring Communications.

Film studies student Jeffrey Whitlock walked away with a $2,500 scholarship as another prize in the contest.

---

E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com