Martha Robinson Rivers Ingram (born August 20, 1935) is an American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

businesswoman and philanthropist. In 1995, Ingram succeeded her late husband as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of

Ingram Industries Ingram Industries is a manufacturing company headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The company consists of diversified businesses in marine transportation aggregate supply, book distribution, print on demand book manufacturing, management and di ...

, one of America's largest privately-held companies. She is the co-author of three books, including two biographies and a history of the performing arts in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

Early life

Martha Robinson Rivers was born in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, the daughter of John Minott Rivers and Martha Elizabeth Robinson. She was educated at Ashley Hall in Charleston. She graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

in 1957.Inside A $15 Billion Dynasty
''Bloomberg Business'', September 28, 1997

Career

Upon graduation, she found employment at WCSC-AM/FM and

WCSC-TV WCSC-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Charleston, South Carolina, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Gray Television. The station's studios are located in the West Ashley section of Charleston, and its transmitter is locate ...

, a radio and television station, respectively, owned by her father. Ingram was appointed by her husband as director of public affairs at Ingram Industries in 1979. After her husband's death in 1995, she became chairman and CEO. Ingram is the co-author of three books. Her first book was a biography of her husband published in 2001, six years after his death. In her second book, published in 2004, Ingram wrote about the performing arts scene in Nashville during the Antebellum era. She argued that it was destroyed by the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

and that it never fully recovered. Her third book, published in 2006, was a biography of Kenneth Schermerhorn, the music director of the Nashville Symphony.

Philanthropy

Ingram was a co-founder of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center which opened in 2005.Martha Rivers Ingram Awarded for Philanthropy in The Arts

Brentwood Life Brentwood may refer to: Cities, towns and other places Australia * Brentwood, Western Australia * Brentwood, South Australia Canada * Brentwood, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta * Brentwood, Nova Scotia * Brentwood, Ontario, a commun ...

, accessed December 29, 2010. She formerly served as Chairman of the Board of Trust of

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in Nashville. The Vanderbilt Blair School of Music has been the recipient of $300 million of Ingram company stock. Ingram was named in ''

Business Week ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

'' as the 50th most generous philanthropist, for her donations from 2000 to 2004.Martha Ingram's philanthropy page

Faces of Philanthropy The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affe ...

, accessed December 29, 2010. In 2006 she was honored by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee as the 2006 recipient of the 13th Annual Joe Kraft Humanitarian Award for her philanthropic efforts. She received the Eli & Edythe Broad Award for Philanthropy in the Arts.

Awards and honors

*1999, South Carolina Business Hall of Fame *1999, Junior Achievement National Business Hall of Fame *2004, Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member

Naomi Judd Naomi Judd (born Diana Ellen Judd; January 11, 1946 – April 30, 2022) was an American singer and actress. In 1980, she and her daughter Wynonna (born Christina Claire) formed the duo known as The Judds, which became a very successful country ...

*2017, Music City Walk of Fame

Personal life

On October 4, 1958, she married E. Bronson Ingram II (1931–1995) at St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Her husband was the son of business magnate Orrin Henry Ingram, Sr., grandson of Erskine B. Ingram, and great-grandson of Orrin Henry Ingram. They had three sons and a daughter: * Orrin H. Ingram II (born 1960), the CEO of

and the chairman of Ingram Barge Company. * John R. Ingram (born ), the chairman of the Ingram Content Group,

Lightning Source Lightning Source is a printer and distributor of print-on-demand books. The company is a business unit of Ingram Content Group. Originally incorporated in 1996 as Lightning Print Inc., the company is headquartered in La Vergne, Tennessee. Its UK ...

, and

. *

David Bronson Ingram David Bronson Ingram (born 1962/1963) is an American heir, businessman and philanthropist. He is the chairman and president of Ingram Entertainment, the largest distributor of DVDs and video games in the US. He is the founder and chairman of DBI ...

(born ), the chairman and president of

Ingram Entertainment Ingram Entertainment Inc. is an American distributor of home entertainment products, like DVDs, audiobooks, video game software and hardware. Ingram Entertainment Inc, is the nation's largest distributor of DVD software. History The company has ...

. * Robin Ingram Patton.

Political activity

In 2015, Ingram donated to Democratic candidate Megan Barry's campaign to become the new Mayor of Nashville.

Works

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingram, Martha Living people 1935 births Businesspeople from Charleston, South Carolina People from Nashville, Tennessee Vassar College alumni Businesspeople from Tennessee American women chief executives American billionaires Female billionaires Vanderbilt University people Philanthropists from Tennessee American Episcopalians Ingram family Members of the Junior League