Computer Tycoons Give $11-Million to Operation Smile; Other Donations

Operation Smile, a charity in Norfolk, Va., that provides free corrective surgery to poor children with facial deformities, has received $10-million from the software developer Charles B. Wang for a project to help kids in his native country.

The gift will support the “Smile Train,” which is scheduled to carry doctors and other volunteers through China starting in 1999 and is expected to reach approximately 100,000 children over a five-year period.

“It is far beyond what we thought we could do until he came along,” said Brian Mullaney, an advertising executive who serves on Operation Smile’s board and as director of the project. Mr. Wang, chairman of Computer Associates International in Islandia, N.Y., was 8 when he left Shanghai with his parents.

If the train project is successful, Mr. Mullaney said, it could lead to similar treks in other countries where locomotives still prevail as the dominant mode of travel.

Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, and his wife, Melinda, followed Mr. Wang’s gift with a $1-million donation. The estimated cost of the project is between $30- and $40-million, said Mr. Mullaney.

* Walter H. Annenberg, the publisher and former ambassador to Great Britain, and his wife, Leonore, have contributed $10-million to help spruce up Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

The Annenbergs’ gift will create interpretive exhibits at the Liberty Bell, support a new visitors’ center, and pay for landscaping.

* The University of Pennsylvania has received $10-million from Samuel Zell, chairman of Equity Group Investments in Chicago, to endow the Wharton Real Estate Center. The center has been renamed to honor Mr. Zell and his late business partner, Robert Lurie.

* In Milwaukee, an anonymous donor will give $10-million to help build Marquette University’s new library, provided that others give as much. Officials at the university are still working out the details of the match.

Other recent gifts:

Appalachian State U. (N.C.): $1,000,000 from Robert L. Turchin of Miami and Hound Ears, N.C., former chief executive officer of Turchin Brothers Construction Company and president of RLT Investment Corporation, and his wife, Lillian, for the capital campaign.

Asbury Theological Seminary (Ky.): $3,000,000 from Robert Buckman of Memphis, chief executive officer of Buckman Laboratories, and his wife, Joyce, to expand a program that offers educational courses through the Internet.

Bradley U. (Ill.): $6,000,000 from David R. Markin of Kalamazoo, Mich., president and chairman of Checker Motors Company, for the capital campaign.

California State U. at Fresno: $1,000,000 bequest from the estate of Arne Nixon of Fresno, a professor in the School of Education and Human Development, to endow a center for the study of children’s literature.

Cambridge U. (U.K.): $3,268,000 from Dennis Gillings of Chapel Hill, N.C., chairman of Quintiles Transnational Corporation, a health-care consulting company, to establish a professorship in health management.

Carson Regional Cancer Center (Neb.): $1,000,000 from Johnny Carson of Malibu, Cal., retired host of The Tonight Show, for a new radiation-therapy machine.

Centenary College of Louisiana: $2,000,000 from an anonymous donor for the capital campaign.

Clark U. (Mass.): $1,400,000 bequest from the estate of Leo L. Laskoff of New York, a lawyer, and from his surviving wife, Joan, a documentary film writer, to establish a professorship in economics, technology, and the environment.

Clarkson U. (N.Y.): $1,100,000 from an anonymous donor for a new business and liberal-arts building and for a teaching program.

Cleveland State U.: $1,000,000 from Peter B. Lewis of Cleveland, chairman of the Progressive Corporation, an insurance company, to build facilities for the men’s basketball team.

Colgate U. (N.Y.): $5,000,000 bequest from the estate of James Dempsey of Peekskill, N.Y., a lawyer and former mayor of Peekskill, for endowment. The university will receive the gift upon the deaths of Mr. Dempsey’s son and daughter.

Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties (Fla.): $5,000,000 from the estates of Hans Stratmann of Boca Raton, Fla., who owned stock in pharmaceuticals, and his wife, Mary, for intergenerational programs. The money consists of the assets of the Stratmann Foundation, which was recently turned over to the community foundation by Chase Manhattan Private Bank.

Florida Atlantic U.: $2,375,000 Carl DeSantis of Boca Raton, Fla., founder of the vitamin company Rexall Sundown, to create a center for the study and development of the motion-picture industry.

George Washington U. (D.C.): $1,000,000 from Laszlo Tauber of Potomac, Md., a doctor, to endow a chair in neurological surgery at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Goshen College (Ind.): $1,500,000 bequest from the estate of Kay Bandelier Gorsline of Chicago, whose late husband, Frank, was a banker, for scholarships for students majoring in business, communications, and economics.

Greater Cincinnati Foundation: $3,800,000 bequest from the estate of Ruth Caroline Koehl of Oakley, Ohio, retired comptroller of the Kent Corporation, to endow an unrestricted fund.

Gulf of Maine Aquarium Development Corporation: $2,500,000 from William G. Waldron of Falmouth, Me., a retired pharmaceutical distributor and owner of Goold Health Systems, for its campaign to build a waterfront aquarium in Portland, Me.

The Johns Hopkins U. (Md.): Gifts totaling $1,500,000 from William Thomas Gerrard of Boca Raton, Fla., and from John Chalsty of New York, chief executive officer of the investment firm Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette, for a professorship in urology, and $1,000,000 from Monroe Sarezky of Stamford, Conn., president of Monroe Construction Company, and his wife, Roslyn, for the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

Michigan State U.: $2,000,000 from Eli Broad of Los Angeles, chief executive officer of SunAmerica, for programs and scholarships in information technology at the College of Business and Graduate School of Management.

North Arundel Hospital Foundation (Md.): $1,000,000 from Creston G. Tate of Linthicum Heights, Md., president of Tate Automotive Dealership Group, and his wife, Betty Jane, to renovate the emergency department at North Arundel Hospital.

Palm Beach Zoo at Dreher Park (Fla.): $5,000,000 from George D. Cornell of Delray Beach, Fla., a banker, and his wife, Harriet, for a new six-acre outdoor tropical exhibit.

Pennsylvania State U.: $3,500,000 from Joe Paterno of State College, Pa., head football coach at Penn State, and his wife, Sue, to endow faculty positions and scholarships and to construct an interfaith spiritual center and a sports hall of fame.

Performing Arts Center Foundation of Greater Miami: $1,000,000 from Gilbert S. Kahn of Miami, nephew of the publisher Walter H. Annenberg, and his partner, John J. Noffo of Miami, for the campaign to build this arts center.

Rockford Memorial Development Foundation (Ill.): $2,300,000 bequest from the estate of Helen M. Howell of Rockford, Ill., former nursing-office scheduler at Rockford Memorial Hospital, for unrestricted use. The foundation is the fund-raising arm of Rockford Memorial Hospital and Rockford Health System.

Rutgers U. (N.J.): $1,000,000 bequest from the estate of Judith Fay Ross of Gainesville, Fla., a former secretary at the business school, for undergraduate finance scholarships at the Newark campus.

Saint Joseph’s College (Me.): Charitable remainder trust valued at $2,100,000 from Andrew McSween of Westbrook, Me., a retired financial analyst, and his wife, Helen, for scholarships, an academic center, the campus ministry, and a student-recreation center.

Southern Methodist U. (Tex.): $5,000,000 from Jack S. Blanton of Houston, president of Eddy Refining, and his wife, Laura Lee, to construct a student-services building.

Syracuse U. (N.Y.): $3,200,000 from Jules Setnor of Springfield, Mass., a retired internist and senior physician at Baystate Medical Center, and his wife, Rose, to endow scholarships at the School of Music.

Temple-Tifereth Israel (Ohio): $1,200,000 from Lee Hartzmark of Moreland Hills, Ohio, a stockbroker, his wife, Dolores, and their children, Debra and Michael, for a new library and other expansion projects.

Texas Tech U.: $1,000,000 from James Niver of Houston, retired founding director of Coastal Bancorp, and his wife, Marguerite, for the College of Business Administration, and $1,000,000 from Owen Gilbreath of Lubbock, Tex., retired president of Agrigenetics, and his wife, Francine, for the College of Human Sciences, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, and the health-sciences center.

Thomas Jefferson U. (Pa.): $3,000,000 from Dorrance (Dodo) Hamilton of Wayne, Pa., director of 218 Enterprises, for medical research and a professorship at the medical college.

U. of California at Los Angeles: $2,500,000 bequest from the estates of Ray Bolger of Beverly Hills, Cal., the film and Broadway actor, and his wife, Gwendolyn, to establish a musical-theater program at the School of Theater, Film and Television.

U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: $1,700,000 bequest from the estate of Anna Lou Johnston Roth of Taylorville, Ill., a writer and concert pianist, for scholarships in the College of Law; the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences; and the College of Commerce and Business Administration.

U. of Kentucky: $5,000,000 from Jack M. Gill of Houston, founder and general partner of Vanguard Venture Partners, a venture-capital firm, and his wife, Linda, to construct a heart institute at the Chandler Medical Center and to endow a chair and five professorships.

U. of Maryland at College Park: $1,500,000 from William E. Mayer of New York, a former dean of the business school and a founder of the firm Development Capital, and his wife, Kathy, for a dean’s discretionary fund at the business school, and $1,000,000 from Paul Mullan of New York, former chairman of Del Monte Foods and a partner at Charterhouse Group International, and his wife, Jean, for scholarships for business students.

U. of New Hampshire: $1,500,000 from Forrest D. McKerley of Concord, N.H., former president and chief operating officer of McKerley Health Care, to endow a chair in health-care economics.

U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: $3,000,000 from Dennis Gillings of Chapel Hill, N.C., chairman of Quintiles Transnational Corporation, a health-care consulting company, for a professorship in biostatistics at the School of Public Health, and $1,000,000 from M. W. (Dyke) Peebles, Jr., of Southern Shores, N.C., retired vice-president and secretary of Peebles Department Stores, for the Kenan-Flagler Business School.

U. of Southern Indiana: $1,000,000 from Dallas Bower Suhrheinrich of Evansville, Ind., an elementary-school teacher, to endow scholarships and faculty programs.

U. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas: $1,000,000 from Bob Smith of Dallas, a pediatrician, to establish a prostate-research center.

United Way of Palm Beach County (Fla.): $1,300,000 from Arthur J. Kobacker of Boca Raton, Fla., owner of a chain of shoe stores that was later bought by Payless, and his wife, Sara Jo, for a fund to help poor minority children and their families.

Volunteers of America-Colorado Affiliate: $3,000,000 from Sharon Magness of Denver, widow of Gary Magness, founder of Tele-Communcations Inc., and their sons, Kim and Gary, for the Meals-on-Wheels program in Denver, and to consolidate the V.O.A. offices into one building.

Webb Schools (Cal.): $2,000,000 from Robert A. Hefner of Aspen, Colo., owner of the GHK Company, an oil and natural-gas company, to create a chair in science and to buy science equipment. The Webb Schools comprise two college-preparatory schools for boys and girls in grades 9 through 12.

White Bear Lake Area Educational Foundation (Minn.): $1,000,000 from Rutherford D. Brosious of White Bear Lake, Minn., for scholarships for graduates of White Bear Lake High School, and for educational programs in the local school district.