Medical School Receives $28.5-Million; Other Gifts

Four institutions have received big gifts:

• Wright State University’s School of Medicine, in Dayton, Ohio, has been given $28.5-million by Oscar Boonshoft, a retired engineer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in Ohio, and his family. Mr. Boonshoft, a trustee of the university’s foundation, specified that the medical school use some of the money to provide scholarships and to expand the department of geriatric medicine. The rest of the money can be used as the school wishes and will pay for research programs and building renovations.
• Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation, in Findlay, Ohio, has received a $25-million bequest from Madeleine Thomas Schneider, a former technical aide at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Mass., who died in January. The money, which Ms. Schneider made through her investments in stocks and bonds, will establish a fund to benefit civic and nonprofit organizations in Hancock County, Ohio.
• The University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Ind., has received a $21-million pledge from Frank E. Eck, chairman of Advanced Drainage Systems, in Columbus, Ohio, and his family. The money, which is to be paid over five years, will help construct a new building and other facilities at the Notre Dame Law School.
• Jim Ayers, chairman of FirstBank, in Lexington, Tenn., has pledged $10-million over five years to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, in Nashville, for a program to find molecular indicators for colorectal cancer. The money will help pay for salaries for new physicians and scientists and research equipment.

Other recent gifts:

California State U. at Northridge: $1-million from Harvey Bookstein, a co-founder of RBZ, an accounting firm in Los Angeles, to create a professorship in taxation at the College of Business and Economics. The money will also pay for the Bookstein Institute for Higher Education in Taxation.

Duke U. (Durham, N.C.): $2.15-million from Jeffrey and Martha Gendell, of Greenwich, Conn., to pay for two new faculty positions and a new graduate concentration in the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. The money will also endow other programs and activities at the school. Mr. Gendell is general partner of Tontine Associates, an investment firm in Greenwich, and a graduate of the university.

Faith Regional Health Services (Norfolk, Neb.): $5-million bequest from Johnny Carson, the comedian and television talk-show host, who died in January, to endow the Carson Cancer Center. Mr. Carson was born and raised in Norfolk.

Florida Atlantic U. (Boca Raton): $5-million from Barry Kaye, a former insurance agent with New England Life and the author of several books about estate planning and life insurance, to establish a school of finance and an endowment within the College of Business. The money will also help pay for guest speakers, a professorship, and a research institute.

Florida Gulf Coast U. Foundation (Fort Myers): $5-million pledge from Raymond L. Lutgert, a real-estate developer and founder of the Lutgert Companies, in Naples, Fla., and his wife, Beverly, for a new academic building in the College of Business.

George Mason U. (Fairfax, Va.): $1.5-million pledge in the form of a residence and 10 acres of adjoining land from Joseph J. Mathy, a retired businessman, and his wife, Liliana. The couple live in Fairfax, and the gift may be used for unrestricted purposes.

Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans (Alexandria, Va.): $5-million from George Argyros and his wife, Julia, to pay for college scholarships for qualifying U.S. military personnel who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since September 2001. Mr. Argyros is chief executive officer of Arnel Development, in Costa Mesa, Calif., and a former U.S. ambassador to Spain.

Iowa State U. Foundation (Ames): $1.5-million from Roger and Connie Underwood, of Ames, for an entrepreneurship program in the university’s College of Agriculture. Mr. Underwood is chief executive officer and chairman of Becker-Underwood, a chemical company in Ames, and serves on the foundation’s board.

The Johns Hopkins U. (Baltimore): $1-million from Robert E. Fischell, a retired faculty member at the university, and his wife, Marian, for cancer research at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine. The university also received $1-million from David Nolan, vice chairman of Millennium Partners, a real-estate-development firm in New York, for a new dining, residential, and retail complex.

Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Boston): $1,033,266 bequest from Anne C. Twaddle, of Boston, who died in 2002. The gift will be used for the Angell Animal Medical Center.

Parsons School of Design (New York): $2-million bequest from Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence, an artist who died in February, to endow the Lawrence Scholars Program, named for Ms. Lawrence’s late husband, the artist Jacob Lawrence. The program provides art and design training for low-income high-school students from New York’s Harlem neighborhood, where Mr. Lawrence grew up.

Prairie View A&M U. (Tex.): $2.1-million bequest from Whitlowe R. Green, a retired high-school economics teacher in Houston, to establish a scholarship fund for students majoring in business management, home economics, nursing, or social science. Mr. Green, who died in 2002, graduated from the university in 1936.

Saint Agnes Medical Center (Fresno, Calif.): $2-million from John R. Paul, a retired distributor for Beltone Electronics, in Fresno, and his wife, Grace, a retired fashion-show coordinator, for building expansion and renovations.

Saint Anselm College (Manchester, N.H.): $1-million bequest from an anonymous donor to pay for acquisitions for the Alva de Megan Chapel Art Center.

San Marino Public Library Foundation (Calif.): $3-million from an anonymous donor to build a new library.

Seton Hall U. (South Orange, N.J.): $3-million pledge from Joseph Unanue, the former chief executive officer of Goya Foods, in Secaucus, N.J., and his wife, Carmen, to establish a Latin-studies institute. Mr. Unanue is a former trustee of the university.

U. of Arkansas at Fort Smith: $5-million from Donnie D. Pendergraft, of Fort Smith, to endow professorships in the college of business and scholarships for students attending the health-sciences college. The money will also be used for the endowment of each college.

West Virginia U. (Morgantown): $2-million bequest from Susie Frum Jimison, a music and voice teacher from Huntington, W.Va., for research on Alzheimer’s disease at the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute.

Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades (Media, Pa.): $3-million pledge from William M. Strine, the founder and retired president of Media Real Estate, to renovate an academic building and build a new library. Mr. Strine graduated from the school in 1929.