Carol Martin (Bill) Gatton, Entrepreneur (automobile dealerships, banking, real estate), was born and raised on a farm near Bremen, Kentucky in Muhlenberg County. He attended Sacramento High School and graduated in 1950, the valedictorian of his graduating class. He enrolled at the University of Kentucky after high school, majoring in Business Administration, and graduated from the College of Commerce in 1954.

Mr. Gatton had a very successful career in automobile dealerships, banking, and real estate. In 1995, he made a gift to the College of Business and Economics which was the largest gift to the University of Kentucky in its history. Later, in his honor, the Board of Trustees named the College "The Carol Martin Gatton College of Business and Economics."