GoDaddy.com Founder Makes Major Donation To Baltimore School

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- They may be best known for their racy ads during the Super Bowl.

Now, as Jessica Kartalija reports, the founder of GoDaddy.com is making a major contribution to his alma mater.

The founder of the Internet hosting site GoDaddy--the company best known for their edgy commercials--got his start right here in Baltimore.

Now, Bob Parsons--who has dubbed the Internet the heart of the new economy--is donating $1 million to the business school at the University of Baltimore.

"We have a distinguished alum, an alum who is very well-known, an alum who has pioneered a new industry sector," said Darlene Brannigan Smith, Merrick School of Business.

Parsons took the website that was virtually unheard of to number one when their ads began airing during the Super Bowl. Now he's establishing a professorship specializing in digital communication.

"They're going to be learning firsthand from his experiences about the digital economy, about entrepreneurship, about innovation. I think it's what every business school and every dean dreams of," said Brannigan Smith.

"Big understandings are often made bigger when there is no communication," Parsons said.

Parsons, who graduated magna cum laude from UB, hosts video blogs about Internet issues on his website.

Parsons, who grew up in Highlandtown, has already donated millions of dollars to charity.

Brannigan Smith, dean of the business school, says Parsons will do similar lessons for UB, as well as on campus lectures.

"I'm always amazed that doing something as simple as smiling makes things better," Parsons said.

He has assured faculty and students that, just like his ads, his lessons will be unlike any they have ever seen.

Parsons also received the University of Baltimore Distinguished Entrepreneur Award in 2010.