E.G. "Ken" Kendrick, Jr.

The first of two children in his family, Ken Kendrick was born in 1943 and raised in Princeton, West Virginia, where his father owned a gas station. “When WWII broke out, my dad joined the Army and was sent to Europe,” Kendrick says. “I was born while he was overseas and didn’t meet him until I was two, but I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful father. He was my hero. He was not a man of wealth, but was totally devoted to giving to others throughout his life. He gave enormous time and energy to our community and I credit him with teaching me the value of hard work and the joy of giving.”

Prior to having her children, Kendrick’s mother was a school teacher. “After my birth, my mother stayed home to take care of us. Like my dad, she was very generous and active in our church and community. She was an especially great mother because she never threw out my collection of baseball cards, as did my friends’ mothers. Today, I have a world-class collection—including the Honus Wagner card, which I acquired later in life, and which is considered the most valuable trading card in the world.”

Kendrick enjoyed his childhood, which was filled with friends—many of whom he still sees—sports teams, and small-town living. “I lived in a small bubble, surrounded by mountains and isolated from the bigger world. I was oblivious to life outside of my neighborhood or where life would take me.”

The usual jobs for young boys appealed to Kendrick, including mowing lawns and having a paper route. At the age of 12, he began working in his father’s gas station. “My dad placed high value on work,” he says “He was from the coal mines of West Virginia and he was on his own at a very young age. He didn’t push me to work, but I so admired him I felt a need to be like him.”

When Ken was a teenager, his father opened a retail store and Ken worked there through his college years. “My dad was an entrepreneur,” he says. “I think that helped me later in life when I was given an opportunity to go out on my own.”

Kendrick attended West Virginia University, where he majored in business. He enjoyed his time there and served as president of his fraternity as well as the fraternity council. “Those positions were my first opportunities to experience leadership and I thrived in that role. My college years were a glorious time for me and I think I grew personally as much as I did academically.”

During his senior year in college, Kendrick was accepted to law school and felt his immediate future was settled. He noticed, however, that his friends were interviewing with companies that came to campus to recruit graduates. Uncertain if he really wanted to be a lawyer, he went to an interview with IBM. It was 1965, and the technology world was beginning to take hold. When Kendrick heard about their training program, which essentially would give him a graduate school education in a year, he accepted their offer and moved to Baltimore, Maryland.

After working at IBM for three years, Kendrick was approached by a colleague with an idea for a software company. “I was only 24 years old when my friend came to me with his proposal. I was single and I had some savings, so I decided I would bet the money on myself.”

Kendrick agreed with the idea and in 1968 he founded Datatel, Inc., which became the worldwide leader in the development of computer software for the management of infrastructure technology for colleges, universities, and foundations. He headed his company until 2005, when he sold his interest to the private equity world in two pieces. The final sale was in 2009.

Kendrick also served as president of a Texas-based financial services technology company during the 1980s. In 1989, he became the principal investor in Woodforest National Bank in The Woodlands, Texas, which is one of the nation’s largest primarily employee-owned banks.

In 1995, Kendrick became a part-owner of the newly formed MLB team the Arizona Diamondbacks. Almost a decade later, in 2004, he became the team’s managing general partner, overseeing day-to-day operations and serving as the Diamondbacks’ designated representative during meetings with MLB owners. Kendrick also became the franchise’s principal owner. During his tenure, the Diamondbacks won NL West championships in 2007 and 2011 and competed in the NLCS in 2007 and 2023. In the latter year, the team played in the World Series for the first time in 22 years. Under Kendrick, the Diamondbacks also hosted the All-Star Game at Chase Field in 2011, and the same year opened the acclaimed Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Stadium complex for spring training. Among his other achievements with the Diamondbacks, Kendrick has helped the team eliminate over $350 million in debt through equity and debt restructures. In 2020, he was appointed to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Board of Directors.

On the philanthropic side of business, Kendrick serves as the chairman of the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation, which has donated more than $100 million to charity since its inception. “It’s been my privilege to give back through the Diamondbacks Foundation to support education, healthcare, and the underprivileged community,” he says.

Kendrick and his wife, Randy, are deeply committed to philanthropy, supporting a wide array of causes across education, healthcare, and youth sports. The couple founded the Freedom Center at the University of Arizona, which provides research, teaching, and programming that is grounded in individual freedom and honors people’s right to constructively disagree. In 2022, they pledged $20 million to West Virginia University, Kendrick’s alma mater, to advance economics education through the Kendrick Center at the Chambers College of Business. As a prostate cancer survivor, Kendrick has also funded critical advancements in cancer research, leading to the establishment of the Kendrick Family Chair for Prostate Cancer Research at the Cleveland Clinic in 2013.

Kendrick’s Bumble Bee Ranch in Arizona is devoted to providing western lifestyle experiences to children’s charities throughout the state. “This ranch is one of my great joys. We offer an experience to kids who have never been out of the city.”

When asked to define success, Kendrick says, “I believe that when you overcome an obstacle or seize an opportunity, that is a moment of success. But I think success is momentary, rather than an absolute. Success is never guaranteed, and can only be repeated with hard work.”

Kendrick has addressed many young audiences and his advice is to never give up. “We all have failures and adversities. If you make a mistake—whether in judgment or action—repair it. Don’t let mistakes impede you from moving forward.”

Honored by his Horatio Alger Award, Kendrick says, “It’s very touching that a guy from a small town in West Virginia would be considered for membership in this great organization. I’m looking forward to seeing what the Scholars do with the opportunities their scholarship is affording them. It’s a value that combined with talent and hard work will give them a better life.”