Prominent Tennessee banker, businessman and philanthropist James W. “Jim” Ayers, after whom a new, 15-story patient care tower under construction at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is named, died April 1 in Nashville. He was 81.
Mr. Ayers and his wife, Janet, have been a major philanthropic force in all of Tennessee.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mr. Ayers,” said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “His and Janet’s generosity will continue to impact VUMC well into the future.
“In October, we will celebrate the opening of the Jim Ayers Tower in Vanderbilt University Hospital, a wonderful new facility that will honor his legacy by serving thousands of patients and families each year. On behalf of the VUMC community I want to express my sympathy to Janet and the Ayers family for their loss.”
Mr. Ayers never forgot his humble, hard-scrabble beginnings. His philanthropy reflected a favorite verse from Luke — “To whom much is given, much is expected.”
In 1999, he established The Ayers Foundation, now known as the Ayers Foundation Trust, in part to help young people from rural Tennessee counties further their education. The Ayers Scholars Program now has counselors helping high school students in 21 counties develop plans to reach their goals.
The Jim Ayers Institute for Precancer Detection and Diagnosis, established at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in 2005, has supported research leading to the identification of protein “signatures” of genetic mutations that drive colorectal cancer.
Janet Ayers has served as a member of the Vanderbilt Eye Institute (VEI) Advisory Board since 2012, and the couple has supported VEI research in regenerative visual neuroscience, low-vision patients and families, and a directorship in the low-vision program. Joshua Robinson, OD, assistant professor of Clinical Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, holds the Janet and Jim Ayers Directorship.
In October 2024, VUMC announced that its new, 470,000-square-foot patient care tower would be named the Jim Ayers Tower in recognition of Janet and Jim Ayers’ philanthropic legacy and abiding interest in improving the health care and quality of life for Tennesseans.
Among the many organizations and institutions receiving philanthropic support statewide from Mr. and Mrs. Ayers is the Pinson Hospitality House of Nashville that serves hundreds of patients and families from all area hospitals, offering a low-cost housing option while they receive care. The Ayers named the house in honor of Dr. C. Wright Pinson, VUMC’s Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer.
“Jim was such a kind and generous man who placed the needs of others first,” said Pinson. “Together he and Janet, through their remarkable generosity, will continue to have a profound impact on the health of Tennesseans. We will honor and celebrate his legacy through the many lives that will be improved in the new tower that will bear his name.”
Mr. Ayers was born on Nov. 19, 1943, in Parsons, Tennessee. His father was a mill operator and farmer, and his mother had a flower shop in town. After graduating from Parsons High School, he attended Memphis State University, where in 1965 he earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration.
After sampling a variety of jobs, Mr. Ayers joined a Memphis-based nursing home company as controller. He was quickly elevated to the executive suite and within two years had turned the struggling company around.
He later established his own nursing home company in his hometown, steering it to a statewide enterprise before becoming co-owner of a bank in Scotts Hill, Tennessee, in 1984.
Mr. Ayers chose a new name, FirstBank and, as CEO and later as Executive Chairman of the Board, guided its transformation into a publicly traded company. Today, FirstBank is Tennessee’s largest independently owned and operated bank, with 77 branches and $13.2 billion in assets.
When praised for his entrepreneurial spirit, Mr. Ayers would respond, “To me, that’s just a long word for common sense.”
“My parents did me a favor by not helping me too much,” he said in 2019, when he was honored with the Horatio Alger Award by the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. “I’m also grateful that they emphasized the importance of education to me.”
The Ayers family will receive visitors on Friday, April 11, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. CDT at the Ayers Foundation Trust headquarters, 643 South Tennessee Ave., Parsons, Tennessee, and on Saturday, April 12, from 9 a.m. to noon CDT, at the First Baptist Church, 210 South Tennessee Ave., in Parsons, before the funeral service at 1:30 p.m. CDT. A private burial service will be held at a later date.
A celebration of Mr. Ayers’ life will be held at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, One Symphony Place in downtown Nashville, on Sunday, April 13, beginning at 3 p.m. CDT. All of Jim’s many friends and acquaintances are invited to attend.
The Ayers family requests that, in lieu of flowers, all memorial donations be made to The Ayers Foundation Trust, 643 South Tennessee Ave., Parsons, Tennessee 38363, or AyersFoundationTrust.org/JimAyersMemorial.
