Gifts Roundup: $50 Million for STEM Programs at Bates College

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by The Chronicle:

Bates College

Michael and Alison Grott Bonney, Bates alumni who graduated in 1980, gave $50 million for new facilities for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs.

Mr. Bonney retired in 2014 as chief executive of Cubist Pharmaceuticals. He serves as chairman of the Bates Board of Trustees. The couple met during their freshman year at the college.

Mr. Bonney’s family has a long history at Bates: His grandfather, Lauren Gilbert, and his father, Wes, graduated from Bates in 1927 and 1950, respectively, and his sister, Melissa Bonney Kane, graduated in 1981.

The couple’s three children also graduated from the college, in 2009, 2012, and 2015.

St. Lawrence University

Sarah Johnson and her parents, Charles and Ann Johnson, gave a $25 million unrestricted contribution to the university. Ms. Johnson is a film producer. She graduated from the university in 1982 and is a trustee and a co-chair of an upcoming fundraising campaign.

Charles Johnson retired as co-president of Franklin Templeton Investments and founded the asset-management firm Tano Capital. Ann Johnson is a retired psychiatrist.

Cincinnati Art Museum

Carl and Alice Bimel left $11.75 million to establish the Alice Bimel Endowment for Asian Art. The endowment money will go toward collections in the arts of South Asia, Greater Iran, and Afghanistan.

The Bimels were longtime supporters of the museum. Alice Bimel died in 2008, and Carl Bimel in 2013.

Ms. Bimel volunteered at the museum for more than 40 years. In 1972, she became the first woman named to the museum’s Board of Trustees and was heavily involved in helping the museum raise money in the years before the institution created a professional development department in 1981.

Saint Joseph’s College

Jeanne Donlevy Arnold donated $2 million to establish the Center for Nursing Innovation, which will be named for her.

Ms. Arnold is a former nurse who rose to serve as a vice president for patient care at a hospital. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the college in 1983.

Half of the gift will go toward scholarships for Maine nursing students, and the remainder will pay for new simulation and anatomy, physiology, and microbiology labs used by nursing majors, as well as offices and meeting spaces.

St. Mary’s University

Tom and Leti Contreras gave $2 million to support the Risk Management program at the Greehey School of Business.

The couple runs Texas Security General Insurance Agency. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in finance from St. Mary’s in 1988, and she earned a Bachelor’s degree in bilingual education from the college in 1989. Ms. Contreras currently serves on St. Mary’s Board of Trustees.

The couple previously gave the college more than $1.1 million to build a pub and gathering space on campus and to pay for an assistant coach position and other support for the golf teams.

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