| Brownlee O. Currey Jr. | |
| Birth Name: | Brownlee Owen Currey Jr. |
| Birth Date: | 14 August 1928 |
| Birth Place: | Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Businessman |
| Spouse: | Agneta Currey |
| Children: | Christian Brownlee Currey Stephanie Currey Ingram and Frances Currey Briggs |
| Parents: | Brownlee O. Currey |
| Relatives: | John R. Ingram (son-in-law) |
Brownlee Owen Currey Jr. (August 14, 1928 – March 18, 2020) was an American businessman and philanthropist.[1] [2] [3]
Currey was born in Nashville on August 14, 1928.[4] Currey's father, Brownlee O. Currey, was the owner of the conservative newspaper Nashville Banner.
Currey co-founded Equitable Securities with his father, Brownlee O. Currey.[3] In 1967, it merged with American Express, and he received a sizeable stock portfolio in the company.[3] In 1979, he bought the Nashville Banner from the Gannett Company, and sold it back to them in 1998, for an additional $25 million.[3] He sat on the Board of Directors of Thomas Nelson, where he held a $2.3 million stake.[2] [3] He served as President of Currey Investments.[2] He served as Chairman of the Board of OCC, Inc., the Star Communications's principal subsidiary, since 1989.[2]
Currey's donations have helped build Montgomery Bell Academy's Currey Gymnasium, Vanderbilt University's Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center, and the Currey Ingram Academy in Williamson County, Tennessee.[3] [5] He served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the United States Equestrian Team and as a Trustee of the Phelps Media Group, a public relations and marketing firm dedicated to the equestrian industry.[6] [7] He also sat on the Board of Trustees of the National Foundation for Facial Reconstruction, the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and Vanderbilt University.[2] Professor Richard L. Daft is the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Professor of Management at Vanderbilt, as is Professor Bruce Barry.[8] [9] The Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Gallery at the Watkins College of Art, Design & Film in Nashville is named in his honor.[10]
Currey was married to Agneta Currey.[3] They had a son, Christian Brownlee Currey, and two daughters, Stephanie Currey Ingram (married to John R. Ingram) and Frances Currey Briggs.[3] They owned River Circle Farm in Williamson County, a 300-plus-acre property around the Harpeth River.[3] They also owned a home in Manhattan, Southampton, New York and Wellington, Florida.[3] He was an avid tennis player.[3] In 2002, he was named the tenth richest person in Middle Tennessee.[3] He died on March 18, 2020, aged 91.[11]