$20-Million Pledged to College; Other Gifts

Four donors have made large gifts and pledges:

• West Virginia University Foundation, in Morgantown, has received a $20-million pledge to the university’s capital campaign from Milan Puskar, co-founder and chairman of Mylan Laboratories, a pharmaceuticals company in Canonsburg, Pa. Most of the money — $12-million — will endow athletic scholarships, while $2-million will be used to renovate athletic facilities. The remaining $6-million will support academic programs at the university.
• The University of Vermont, in Burlington, has received a $15-million pledge from Steve Rubenstein, a real-estate developer in New Jersey, and his wife, Beverly, to support the environmental-studies program. Mr. Rubenstein graduated from the university in 1961.
• The RAND Graduate School, in Arlington, Va., has received $10-million from Frederick S. Pardee, a real-estate developer in Los Angeles, for its endowment. The school is part of the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization in Santa Monica, Calif., where Mr. Pardee formerly worked as an analyst.
• The San Diego Opera has received a $10-million bequest for its production fund, which supports artistic programming, from Joan B. Kroc, who lived in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., and was the widow of Ray A. Kroc, the founder of the McDonald’s Corporation. Ms. Kroc, who died in October, made large bequests to National Public Radio, in Washington; the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Ind.; and the University of San Diego (The Chronicle, November 13). In addition, KPBS, a public-radio station in San Diego, received $5-million for its endowment.

Other recent gifts:

Carroll College (Waukesha, Wis.): $2.5-million pledge from George H. Richter, for scholarships and an endowed chair in nursing, and for health-science programs. Mr. Richter’s wife, Gladys, who died in 1992, graduated from the college in 1936.

Community Working Group (Palo Alto, Calif): $1-million from Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, to construct the Opportunity Center, which will provide housing and services to the homeless in Palo Alto.

Johns Hopkins U. (Baltimore): $2-million from Alex Grass, founder of the Rite Aid Corporation, for an oncology professorship in the medical school.

Spring Hill College (Mobile, Ala.): $8-million from Skip Viragh, founder of the Rydex Fund Group (Rockville, Md.) and a college trustee and 1964 graduate, for a new residence hall.

U. of Texas at Austin: $2,485,000 bequest from Walter B. Smith, former chief executive officer of American Exchange Life Insurance Company (McKinney, Tex.) and a graduate of the university, for financial aid; and $1-million from the Ella Mae Moore Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust, for a chair in international management at the business school. Mrs. Moore’s husband, Fred Holmsley Moore, who died in 1985, was president of North American operations at Mobil Oil Corporation (Dallas).