$50-Million Gifts for U. of Wisconsin and Technion Institute

The University of Wisconsin Foundation announced a $50 million donation Friday from Milwaukee businessman Albert “Ab” Nicholas and his wife, Nancy Nicholas, for student financial aid, the Journal Sentinel writes.

Mr. Nicholas, who founded an investment firm that manages $2.7 billion in assets, graduated from Wisconsin-Madison, as did Ms. Nicholas. Carrying a one-to-one match, their gift aims to create a $100-million endowment supporting some 400 new scholarships and graduate fellowships at the state university system’s flagship campus.

The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has received a $50 million pledge from Andrew J. Viterbi, the co-founder of semiconductor company Qualcomm, reports the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Mr. Viterbi, an engineer who created an algorithm that is widely used in mobile devices for decoding cellular signals, is a visiting professor at the Haifa, Israel, institution, which is ranked among the world’s top electrical-engineering schools. He gave $52 million in 2004 to the University of Southern California’s engineering school, which now bears his name.