Gifts Roundup: Virginia Tech Gets $20 Million, Cal Poly Pomona Gets $10 Million

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:

Virginia Tech

David Calhoun gave $20 million to create the Calhoun Honors Discovery Program and to establish the Calhoun Center for Higher Education Innovation.

Calhoun is senior managing director for Blackstone and earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from what is now the Pamplin College of Business in 1979.

Of the total he is giving, $15 million will go toward recruiting Discovery Program participants, which will ultimately benefit 200 Honors College students each year. The remaining $5 million will be used to develop the program’s curriculum and establish the higher education center.

Lincoln Land Community College Foundation

Charles and Irene Kreher left a charitable trust with assets of $18 million to expand the college’s agriculture program.

The Krehers were farmers who raised corn, soybeans, and Angus cattle in Blue Mound, Ill. Charles Kreher died in 2009, and Irene Kreher died last year. Neither had attended the college.

Cal Poly Pomona

Jim and Carol Collins donated $10 million to the Collins College of Hospitality Management, to establish the Carol and James A. Collins Excellence Endowment.

The money will endow scholarships and internships for historically underrepresented undergraduate and graduate hospitality-management students who would otherwise have little chance to pursue higher education. It will also back resources for faculty.

Jim Collins founded what became Sizzler International, a holding company of hundreds of Sizzler restaurants worldwide and Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in Queensland, Australia.

Jumpstart

Rob and Jennifer Waldron pledged $5 million through their donor-advised fund at the Boston Foundation.

The gift is unrestricted, so the early-education nonprofit can use it for any part of its work bringing trained college-student volunteers into preschool classrooms in low-income communities to work with children on skills they’ll need to succeed in kindergarten.

Rob Waldron formerly led Jumpstart and was chief executive of the K12 Tutoring Division of Kaplan Education. He currently serves as the chief executive of Curriculum Associates, a K-12 education publishing company.

George Mason University

Charles Koch gave $5 million through his foundation for the department of economics. The gift will be used to hire three new tenure-track faculty members, including a senior scholar.

Koch is chairman and chief executive of Koch Industries, an industrial conglomerate he and his brother David Koch own. The brothers appeared in The Chronicle’s recent report on how much the country’s wealthiest donors are giving to charity relative to their wealth.

University of Michigan Museum of Art

Philip and Kathy Power gave $2 million to endow a program in Inuit art, and they donated their collection of more than 200 stone Inuit sculptures and prints.

Philip Power founded HomeTown Communications Network, a group of 65 community newspapers in the upper Midwest. He also founded the Center for Michigan, a think tank that encourages greater understanding and involvement in policy issues among the state’s citizens. He graduated from the university in 1960.

The Power family endowment will initially back guest curators, outreach programs, educational staff, and docent training. Over time, the museum will establish relationships with Canadian and Inuit institutions, initiate student internships or fellowships, and support ongoing research.

Elton John AIDS Foundation

Billionaire businessman Philip Anschutz gave $1 million to support the foundation’s LGBT Fund.

The program seeks to tackle the stigma, discrimination, and violence that prevent LGBT people in sub-Saharan Africa from accessing health and HIV services.

Anschutz is chairman of Anschutz Entertainment Group, a sporting and music entertainment presenter.

Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District

Sam Ciccati pledged $1 million over 10 years to endow scholarships and other assistance for students attending Cuyamaca College, a community college.

Ciccati was president of Cuyamaca College from 1984 to 1993 and was a community college student before going on to earn bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees.

To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated throughout the week.