Martha Ingram (1935 – 2026)

Their Story

Martha Robinson Rivers Ingram was born August 20, 1935, in Charleston, South Carolina, where her family was a local broadcasting powerhouse, owners of several radio and television stations. She graduated from Vassar College with a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1957 and began her career at WCSC-AM/FM and WCSC-TV, radio and television stations owned by her father. She married E. Bronson Ingram II on October 4, 1958, at St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and the couple moved to Nashville. In 1995, Ingram succeeded her late husband as chairman and chief executive officer of Ingram Industries, one of America's largest privately held companies. She ran the company until 2008 when her son John replaced her as chairman and her son Orrin became president and CEO. Widely considered Nashville's First Lady of the Arts, Ingram was a catalyst behind the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the savior of the symphony. In 1998, honoring the wishes of her late husband, Martha Rivers Ingram made what was believed at the time to be the largest private gift ever to an American college or university—20 million shares of Ingram Micro Inc., valued at more than $300 million, with 40 percent of the fund's income and assets going to Vanderbilt. Ingram became chair of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust in 1999 and served until 2011. She was the co-author of three books, including two biographies and a history of the performing arts in Nashville, Tennessee. Ingram died peacefully surrounded by her family on August 6, 2026, at age 90.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Rivers_Ingram