Matt Barton
UK horticulture professor Seth Debolt will serve as director of the James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits.
Jim Beam has announced a $5 million donation to the University of Kentucky to establish the James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits. The institute will educate the next generation of distillers through a curriculum that covers the skills needed to succeed in the distilled spirits industry at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels, the distiller said.
“When we envisioned ways to prepare our workforce to meet the changing needs of our rapidly growing bourbon industry, a partnership with Jim Beam was a natural fit,” University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto said in announcing the new program. “I can’t thank them enough for the generous gift that will help bring our vision to life.”
The $5 million gift represents Beam Suntory’s largest single philanthropic or educational gift in the company’s history.
“This donation is an investment in the future of bourbon, and Kentucky’s future workforce, and we are confident that the future for both is very bright indeed,” said Albert Baladi, president and CEO of Beam Suntory. “We are excited about the key role that this program will play in the continued global expansion of America’s native spirit.”
The James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits, led by the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, will offer courses across engineering, chemistry, business, law, horticulture, forestry, food science, and entomology to address spirits industry needs in sustainable agriculture, research and development, and more.
Fred Noe, left, is the seventh generation Jim Beam master distiller, and Freddie Noe is the eighth generation Beam distiller.
“With the continued global growth of bourbon, we need to focus on educating the next generation of distillers, scientists and engineers who can tackle the needs of this industry well into the future,” said Fred Noe, Jim Beam’s seventh generation master distiller. “And there’s no better place to make Bourbon than right here in Kentucky.”
According to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, there are nearly two barrels of bourbon resting in the state of Kentucky for every person living there, valued at $3 billion, up 300 percent from 2009. Bourbon contributes $8.6 billion to Kentucky’s economy each year, including $1 billion in payroll, and $235 million in state and local tax revenue. The bourbon industry also provides more than 20,000 jobs in the state.
“Very few places in the world have a historic landmark product like bourbon,” said Seth DeBolt, horticulture professor and institute director. “The institute is a collaboration to increase the longevity and the economic development for the spirits industry in Kentucky. It is really driven from an interdependence that we see between the university and the industry, and of course, remembering UK’s land-grant mission is to serve the economy of Kentucky. It’s a win-win all the way around, and we’re really excited about it.”
The university began offering a certificate in Distillation, Wine and Brewing Studies in 2014, and its online version is set to launch this fall. It is a collaboration between the UK colleges of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Business and Economics. The institute will build on this existing teaching opportunity as well as in research and outreach.