U. of Miss. Gets 2 Big Gifts; Other Donations

Two universities and a foundation have received big gifts.

* James L. Barksdale, former president of Netscape Communications, and his wife, Sally, have given the University of Mississippi $100-million to strengthen a statewide effort to wipe out illiteracy.

The couple have established the Barksdale Reading Institute at the university’s School of Education, in Oxford, to train elementary-school teachers there and at the education colleges of the state’s seven other public universities.

In 1998 Mississippi passed a law requiring all school districts to overhaul their reading programs.

The couple’s gift came a few days after another donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, had given $31.8-million to set up a charitable remainder unitrust at Ole Miss. The gift is unrestricted.

Officials have predicted that the donation will be worth $200-million in 40 years.

* Dorothy M. Davis, a former fashion model, pilot, and widow of the Ohio real-estate developer William H. Davis, has bequeathed $32.5-million to endow a grant-making institution she established in 1991.

The William H. Davis, Dorothy M. Davis and William C. Davis Foundation finances scholarships, medical research, and children’s programs in central Ohio.

Mrs. Davis died in November 1996, her husband in 1984. Mrs. Davis’s stepson, William C. Davis, died nine years ago from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. At that time, Mrs. Davis received an $8-million bequest from her stepson’s estate, which she used to create the foundation.

* John Malone, chairman of the cable-television company Liberty Media Group, in Englewood, Colo., has given Yale University $24-million to help construct an engineering facility.

The building will join four other new structures for biology, chemistry, environmental sciences, and the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Yale recently announced that it is spending $500-million to expand and renovate its science departments.

Other recent gifts:

Belhaven College (Miss.): $6,000,000 from an anonymous donor for capital projects.

Blue Grass Community Foundation (Ky.): $3,300,000 bequest from the estate of Lottie B. Ellis of Danville, Ky., a hotel bookkeeper and an investor, for a discretionary fund and for scholarships for students from Boyle County, Ky., who wish to attend colleges and universities in the state.

Calvary Lutheran Church (Minn.): $2,000,000 bequest from the estate of Richard Pendleton of Minneapolis, a jazz musician, for unrestricted use. The church plans to use the gift for programs to benefit inner-city families.

Claflin U. (S.C.): $1,000,000 from an anonymous donor for the capital campaign.

Community Foundation Serving Coastal South Carolina: $1,000,000 from an anonymous donor for endowment.

Duke U. (N.C.): $5,000,000 from Jeffrey N. Vinik of Weston, Mass., an investment manager, and his wife, Penny, for the Pratt School of Engineering.

East Carolina U. (N.C.): $1,000,000 from Morris Brody of Greenville, N.C., a retired businessman, and his wife, Lorraine, for the School of Medicine.

Elon College (N.C.): $3,000,000 bequest from the estates of Leon (Doc) and Lorraine Watson of St. Petersburg, Fla., investors and motel owners, for scholarships for students from North Carolina.

Episcopal Academy (Pa.): $3,000,000 from Walter W. Buckley, Jr., of Bethlehem, Pa., managing partner at Buckley Meuthing Capital Management, to endow scholarships.

Milwaukee Art Museum: Charitable remainder trust valued at $1,000,000 from Charles J. Wilson of Chicago, a banker and dentist, for the capital campaign.

Oregon Community Foundation: Real estate valued at $1,300,000 from Joe Weston of Portland, founder of Weston Investments, for unrestricted use. The foundation is holding the land and funneling the rent return into its grant making.

Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 (Utah): $1,000,000 from Jon Huntsman of Salt Lake City, chairman of the chemical company Huntsman Corporation, for the paralympic games.

State U. of New York at Buffalo: Art gallery estimated to be worth $3,000,000 and a charitable remainder trust of $2,000,000 from David K. Anderson of Buffalo, N.Y., an art dealer and collector. Mr. Anderson designated the trust to maintain the gallery’s exhibitions.

Temple U. (Pa.): $9,000,000 bequest from the estate of Leonard Rubin of Philadelphia, a lawyer, for unrestricted use at the Beasley School of Law.

U. of California at Irvine: $5,700,000 from Henry Samueli of Irvine, Cal., co-chairman of the communications company Broadcom, and his wife, Susan, to establish a center at the School of Medicine to study alternative therapies.

U. of Connecticut: $1,000,000 from Robert G. Burton of Greenwich, Conn., former chairman of World Color, to provide scholarships for football players enrolled in the School of Business.

U. of Wyoming: $1,000,000 bequest from the estate of Betty Rendle of Casper, Wyo., secretary to former Wyoming governor Stan Hathaway, for an athletics center and scholarships.

Western Illinois U.: $1,000,000 from Eric J. Gleacher of Chicago, chairman of the investment-banking firm Gleacher and Company, to add nine holes to the university’s golf course.