The University of Mary Washington Board of Visitors voted today, Friday, Nov. 20, to establish the Ron Rosner Athletic Endowment and to recognize Rosner for his generosity by naming an arena in his honor. The arena, which is within the William M. Anderson Center, will be known as the Ron Rosner Arena.
“On behalf of the Board of Visitors, I am grateful for Mr. Rosner’s dedication to the University’s mission and commitment to enhance the student-athlete experience,” said Board Rector Holly Cuellar.
The annual endowment will support the UMW athletic program to benefit student-athletes and the local community.
“We are extremely grateful for this transformative gift to UMW Athletics,” said Ken Tyler, director of athletics. “Ron Rosner is an outstanding leader in our community, and we are happy to partner with him in such a meaningful way. His generosity will provide significant opportunities to our student-athletes for many years to come.”
The arena will be dedicated on Wednesday, Dec. 16, in the Anderson Center during halftime of the men’s basketball game against Virginia Wesleyan College. Admission is free for the 7 p.m. game, designated as Community Night.
Rosner, founder and chairman of the board for the Rosner Automotive Group, is a long-time supporter of the University and the greater Fredericksburg community. At UMW, he sponsored lectures by National Geographic photographer Annie Griffiths and husband-and-wife journalists Jennifer Griffin of the Fox News Channel and Greg Myre of National Public Radio. Rosner also has contributed to numerous charities in the region, including the Rappahannock Area YMCA and its Ron Rosner YMCA of Spotsylvania County.
“The community has been so generous to me, and I feel strongly that I want to give back,” Rosner said. “The University of Mary Washington is a great asset to the region and an integral part of the community. I hope my gift will help bolster the University’s already strong athletics program.”
A native of New York City, Rosner served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador in the late 1960s. He later studied at American University in Washington, D.C., earning his bachelor of arts in international service in 1970, his master’s in international service in 1972.
To pay his way through graduate school, he began working at a Toyota dealership in Falls Church in 1970. In 1979, he purchased the Toyota dealership in Fredericksburg. By 2015, the Rosner Automotive Group had grown to include seven franchises, nine stores and 500-plus employees. In the fall of 2015, Rosner and his partner, stepson Clay Huber, restructured the company, dividing its stores and franchises into the Rosner and Huber Automotive Groups.
