$10-Million Donated to a California Performing Arts Center; Other Gifts

The Orange County Performing Arts Center, in Costa Mesa, Calif., has received a pledge of $10-million from Lawrence K. and Kristina Dodge for its new education center for families, teachers, and young artists.

The couple will donate the money if the center raises an additional $20-million. Mr. Dodge is the founding chairman and chief executive officer of American Sterling, a finance company in Foothill Ranch, Calif.

Other recent big gifts include:

Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston: $3-million unrestricted bequest from Dwight Parker Robinson Jr., retired chairman of the Massachusetts Investors Trust, in Boston, and his wife, Mary, who died in 2005 at age 98. Mr. Robinson died in 1989 at the age of 89.

Cooper U. Hospital (Camden, N.J.): $5-million from Harry Knowles, retired chief executive officer of Metrologic Instruments, a manufacturer of data-capture tools in Blackwood, N.J., and his wife, Janet, to establish a breast-cancer center.

Fairfield U. (Conn.): $5-million from E. Gerald Corrigan, managing partner at Goldman Sachs, in New York, to endow a scholarship and a chair in the humanities and social sciences.

George Mason U. (Fairfax, Va.): $1-million bequest from the estate of Genevieve Grotjan Feinstein, who died last year at the age of 93, to endow a scholarship fund in memory of her late son, Ellis. As a junior cryptanalyst during World War II, Ms. Feinstein helped break an important Japanese code. Her late husband, Hyman, was a chemistry professor at the university.

George Washington U. (Washington): $5-million from Philip Amsterdam, president of North Star Enterprises, a commercial building and contracting company in New York, and his wife, Gail; and $5-million from Morton Bender, former president of Blake Construction Company, in Washington, and his wife, Grace. Both of these gifts will endow the School of Public Policy and Public Administration. Mr. Amsterdam and Mr. Bender are co-chairs of the university’s capital campaign.

High Museum of Art (Atlanta): $4-million from Frances B. Bunzl, whose late husband’s family founded Textile & Paper Supply Company, in Atlanta, to support the museum’s expansion.

Lamar U. Foundation (Beaumont, Tex.): $1-million from David J. Beck, co-founder of Beck, Redden & Secrest, a law firm in Houston, to create a fellowship program for financially needy, academically talented students. Mr. Beck graduated from the university in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree in government.

Natural Resources Defense Council (Los Angeles): $1-million pledge from Ariel Emanuel, a partner at Endeavor Agency, a talent and literary agency in Los Angeles, and his wife, Sarah Addington, to endow a fund for the council’s environmental efforts in China.

Orange County Performing Arts Center (Costa Mesa, Calif.): $2.5-million from William J. Gillespie, a funeral director in Laguna Beach, Calif., to help pay for a concert organ. This marks the second time Mr. Gillespie has donated money to the campaign to buy the organ; he originally gave $2.5-million in 2001.

Seattle Opera: $1.5-million pledge from Susanne F. Hubbach to support the opera’s endowment and operations. Ms. Hubbach’s family founded Fisher Communications, which owns television and radio stations in Seattle.

SPCA of Anne Arundel County (Annapolis, Md.): $1-million bequest from the estate of Mary Jane Carder, a retired editor at the Central Intelligence Agency, in Washington, to support the daily needs and medical care of the animals there. Ms. Carder died in 2004 at age 88.

Summa Health System (Akron, Ohio): $1.5-million from Vanita Oelschlager, an author of children’s books, and her husband, Jim, founder and chief executive officer of Oak Associates, an investment firm in Akron, to endow a chair in psychiatry and behavioral health. The hospital system also received $1-million from Vincent DiGirolamo, retired vice chair of National City Corporation, a financial holding company and regional bank based in Cleveland, and his wife, Nancy, to endow a chair in oncology.

U. of California at Davis: $1-million bequest from the estate of Freemond E. (Pete) Gadberry, a retired fine-arts teacher at Vintage High School, in Napa, Calif., for the art department’s efforts to recruit and support student artists. Mr. Gadberry, who graduated from the university in 1967 with a master’s degree in fine arts, died last year at the age of 69.

U. of Maine (Orono): $1-million from H. Allen Fernald, chief executive officer of Down East Enterprises, a publishing company in Rockport, Me., and his wife, Sally, to support the arts and academics. Mr. Fernald, who is also chief executive officer of Down East magazine, graduated from the university in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology; Ms. Fernald graduated the following year with a bachelor’s degree in English.

U. of Mary (Bismark, N.D.): $1.5-million from Kirk Lanterman, chairman emeritus of Holland America Line, a cruise company headquartered in Seattle, and his wife, Janet, to endow scholarships for business students in its Emerging Leaders Academy honors program.

U. of Maryland, School of Medicine (Baltimore): $1.5-million from Howard S. Brown, chairman of David S. Brown Enterprises, a real-estate company in Baltimore, to endow a professorship in trauma research.

U. of Wyoming (Laramie): $1.8-million from Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, to endow scholarships to enable students to study abroad. Mr. Cheney graduated from the university in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree and in 1966 with a master’s degree, both in political science.

Union for Reform Judaism (New York): $1-million pledge from David and Hermine Heller and Robert and Amy Heller to help restore the Manor House at the organization’s camp in Great Barrington, Mass. David Heller is a managing director of Goldman Sachs, in New York, and Robert, his father, is partner at Kramer Levin, a law firm in New York, and chair of the Union for Reform Judaism. Additionally, the organization received $1-million from Darryl Mallah, former principal owner of Icon Parking, in New York, and his wife, Diane, to establish a sports center; Roslyn Rosenthal, the widow of E.M. (Manny) Rosenthal, who owned the Standard Meat Company, in Fort Worth, pledged $1-million for a camp in Texas and general support. Also donating $1-million was Roger Tilles, retired partner at Tilles Investment Company, in Long Island, N.Y., and his wife, Jerry, to support the art center at the Great Barrington camp.

Westmont College (Santa Barbara, Calif.): $1-million from Harold Simmons, chairman of Contran, a holding company in Dallas, and his wife, Annette, to support scholarships and to endow a professorship in art.