A gift of 1 million dollars given to the University of Washington means the Spratlen legacy will live on long after Thaddeus and Lois Spratlen are gone, and hopefully ensure that their personal legacies, and the barriers they broke down during their lives, will live on forever. 

In the 1970s, Thaddeus Spratlen, a professor of marketing, began his project-based research at the University of Washington, with the goal of supporting minority-owned businesses. He went on to found the Business and Economic Development Center (BEDC), one of the few centers to exist at a nationally recognized public university. It was also the first center of its kind to exist at a university that was not historically all black and because of this its impact has been critical.

BEDC educates minority owners of businesses along with supporting and helping them gain additional revenue. Since its inception in the 1990s, the BEDC has helped bring 85 million dollars in revenue to minority owned businesses and helped over 6,000 people find find work. The 1 million dollar gift will go to the BEDC at the UW and ensures the center will flourish long after the Spratlens are gone.

Thad’s wife, Lois Spratlen has also over come her own obstacles and paved the way for women in higher education. Although first denied admission to the University of Virginia because the color of her skin, Lois went on, with the support of her community, to get her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Hampton University (a historically all black school). While there she initiated a policy to allow students to marry while in school, which was unheard of before then. Lois went on to receive a master’s in community mental health from UCLA and her doctorate in urban planning from the UW. Lois was a nursing professor at the UW for 30 years and during that time she was a significant figure in establishing policies that protected women in the work force from sexual harassment. 

Both Thad and Lois broke down barriers for minority individuals and their legacy and generous donation will continue to benefit the UW for years to come.