(Sarasota, FL, April 22, 2005) – Jan E. Smith, president of Jan Smith and Company in Bradenton and chairman of the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee Campus Board, has given $100,000 to the Crosley Campus Center Fundraising Initiative. The Jan E. Smith College of Education Wing will be named in honor of his generosity and campus leadership.

All funds raised for Crosley Campus Center, opening fall 2006, are matched 100 percent under the Alec P. Courtelis Facilities Enhancement Challenge grant from the Florida Division of Colleges and Universities. Since the Initiative started in December 2004, more than 40 businesses, foundations, faculty, staff, alumni, and other individuals have come forward with over $2.1 million in private gifts and grants, and the match raises the current total funds for enhancement of the new facility to more than $4.2 million.

“USF Sarasota-Manatee is our hometown campus and an asset to our community,” said Smith. “Education is the cornerstone of a strong economy, and USF provides the prestige of a nationally ranked research university that attracts businesses and maintains a viable workforce for years to come.”

Jan Smith and Company is a commercial real estate and business investments organization in Bradenton. Smith also is managing general partner of Ramblers Rest Resort, Ltd., a 600-space recreational vehicle park in Venice, Florida. He is a member of the SunTrust Bank Gulf Coast Board of Directors, and a board member of Brown and Brown, Inc. In addition to his position as Campus Board chairman, Smith is a member of the USF Sarasota-Manatee Community Leadership Council and the Education Governance Reorganization Transitions Task Force of Florida.

The Manatee County resident also chaired the Board of Trustees of Manatee Community College for 12 years, and is a past chairman of the Board of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, among many other community leadership positions. He has been a member of the USF Foundation Board of Trustees and was inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame. He was appointed to the School Board of Manatee County for six months in 1974 by Governor Rubin Askew to complete the term of a member who resigned. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida.

The Crosley Campus Center will be a 100,000-square-foot facility with 24 classrooms; a 190-seat lecture/exhibition hall; seminar and video-conferencing rooms; computer labs; a daycare center; student gathering places; faculty and staff offices; a technology and learning center; dining facilities; and training facilities for the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management. Once completed, the Center will offer some 800 courses annually in 37 academic programs.