The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art honors Fred Jones Jr., a University of Oklahoma student and Business Administration senior in the Class of 1951 who died tragically in 1950 when the small plane he was piloting crashed on a trip to the Sugar Bowl. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Jones, pioneer Oklahoma City business and civic leaders, who contributed funds to build the art museum and the new School of Art building in his memory and to enhance the cultural life of the campus by giving students an opportunity to view outstanding works of art. The University of Oklahoma Museum of Art had originally been established in 1936 in what is now Jacobson Hall, honoring founding director Oscar B. Jacobson, and the new museum opened in 1971 as the Fred Jones Jr. Memorial Art Center. Over a long period, Mrs. Fred Jones Sr. played a leading role in expanding the museum's collections, which include extensive American, Native American, European, and African art, as well as photography from the Sandor collection, sculpture, ceramics, and the Fleischaker, Thams, and Tate collections of works by Taos artists. The Weitzenhoffer collection of French Impressionist art was given by OU alumnus Max Weitzenhoffer and his parents, the late Clara and Aaron Weitzenhoffer, and in 2000 it was the single most important gift of art ever given to a U.S. public university. In early 2005, the Mary and Howard Lester Wing opened through gifts from friends and alumni, including a lead gift of $2.5 million from Mary and Howard Lester; Howard Lester, a Durant, Oklahoma, native and former OU student, was a nationally known philanthropist and business leader and founder of the Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn companies. The museum is recognized as one of the most important university-based art museums in the nation.