John Pirri Jr., DVM, a retired veterinarian and alumnus from the University of Kentucky’s (UK) College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, has pledged a gift totaling more than $6.8 million for the immediate and long-term facility needs for UK Ag Equine Programs’ undergraduate efforts.

Pirri graduated from UK in 1951 with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and again in 1952 with a master’s degree. He went on to complete his degree in veterinary medicine from Iowa State University, and after a few stops along the way in Florida and Georgia, built a successful small-animal practice in Connecticut. He is now retired and resides in South Carolina.

While it has been more than six decades since Pirri attended UK, his love for horses and racing, as well as his memories of visiting Kentucky’s top horse farms as a student, were part of what inspired him to give to a program teaching the future leaders of the horse industry.

“I never did forget Kentucky,” he said. “I had a good time in Kentucky. I enjoyed myself in Kentucky. My memories of Kentucky have always been good