Joseph McKinley Bryan, Sr., overcame poverty, a mother's mental illness, a father's desertion, and a lack of formal education to become a builder of people and institutions. The largest single donor to Duke University outside of the Duke family, Bryan helped create the Alzheimer's research facility at Duke and vitalized the Duke Eye Center. He was also instrumental in the creation of commercial and public television in North Carolina, including WBTV, North Carolina's first television station, and UNC-TV, North Carolina's statewide public television network. Bryan's name is now associated with many of North Carolina's higher educational institutions, including the Joseph M. Bryan School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the Joseph M. Bryan Student Center at Duke University.Ned Cline interviewed Bryan's family, friends, associates, and acquaintances to tell the whole story of this complex and fascinating man.