Metropolitan Museum of Art Receives $125 Million From Trustee

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Oscar Tang and Agnes Hsu-Tang pledged $125 million to renovate the wing of the museum that houses its modern and contemporary art collection. The space, currently known as the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing, will be renamed for the Tangs.

Oscar Tang co-founded the asset-management firm Reich & Tang in 1970. He has served on the museum’s Board of Trustees for 30 years and has been a longtime supporter of the institution. He previously gave the museum $30 million to purchase rare Chinese artworks, create an endowment for the Department of Asian Art, and support other efforts.

“As a young boy, I was displaced by war and America gave me refuge and the education and opportunities to succeed,” Tang, who came to the United States when he was 11, said in a written statement. “I joined The Met’s board almost 30 years ago, and I wanted to share the richness of my Chinese heritage with America and the world.”

Agnes Hsu-Tang is an archaeologist and art historian. She has worked in the field of cultural-heritage protection and rescue since 2006 and is a senior research scholar at Columbia University and a Distinguished Consulting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. She has also served as an adviser to Unesco and to President Obama’s Cultural Property Advisory Committee. 

The Tangs have donated extensively to arts and culture groups and to education. In 1989, Oscar Tang co-founded the Committee of 100, a Chinese-American leadership organization that is focused on promoting better relations between the United States and Greater China.

Cornell University

Richard and Margaret Riney gave $30 million through their Margaret and Richard Riney Family Foundation to endow a new research center, the Margaret and Richard Riney Canine Health Center at the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The gift will initially back an internal grants program for canine health-related research, with a particular focus on the study of cancer, genetics and genomics, infectious diseases, and immunology.

Richard Riney is CEO of RPR Management, the couple’s private investment office. He is a son of Roger Riney, who founded the discount brokerage firm Scottrade and led the company until it was sold to TD Ameritrade in 2017.

Schwarzman Animal Medical Center

Stephen and Christine Schwarzman gave $25 million to expand and renovate the hospital, which was named for them last week. Stephen Schwarzman is co-founder and chairman of the Blackstone Group, an investment firm in New York. Christine Schwarzman is an intellectual-property lawyer.

The billionaire couple are serial donors who have given extensively to arts and culture groups and universities. They have appeared on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors five time since 2008.

Texas A&M Foundation

Adam Sinn gave $20 million to support the Texas A&M University Mays Business School’s Department of Finance and to support financial aid for undergraduate and graduate students. The department will named for Sinn.

Sinn is president of the electricity-trading firm Aspire Commodities in Houston. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the university in 2000.

He is giving half of the donation now and will pay out the remaining $10 million over the next five years. Of the total gift, Sinn has directed $7.5 million to support undergraduate and graduate scholarships for finance students who might not otherwise be able to attend college.

Trinity College

Francisco Borges and his family gave $10 million to support financial aid for students who could not attend college without it. In recognition of the gift, college officials plan to rename its admissions center the Manuel and María Luisa Lopes Borges Admissions Center.

Francisco Borges is a former Connecticut state treasurer who graduated from the college in 1974. His wife, Luisa, and his siblings Peter Borges, Francesca Borges Gordon, Maria Borges Correia, and Joaquina Borges King all contributed to the gift. Peter Borges, Francesca Borges Gordon, and Maria Borges Correia graduated from Trinity in 1980, 1982, and 1985, respectively. Joaquina Borges King attended Wesleyan University.

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