William Franke

Commencement 2025 Honorary Degree Recipient

William A. Franke is managing partner of Indigo Partners LLC, a global private equity firm that specializes in the aviation industry. He oversees several airlines, including Frontier Airlines in the U.S., Wizz Air in Hungary, JetSMART in Chile and Argentina, and Volaris in Mexico. He also serves as chair of APiJET, an aviation software platform, and CleanJoule, a sustainable aviation fuel company. The university's W.A. Franke Honors College was named for Franke following a $25 million gift from him and his wife, Carolyn, to support student scholarships, stipends and study abroad opportunities.