3 Universities Get Generous Gifts for Medicine and Engineering

Thomas Jefferson University: The Sidney Kimmel Foundation has donated $110-million to support the Philadelphia university’s medical school, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer. The money from Mr. Kimmel, a native of the city who made a $1.3-billion fortune as the founder of Jones New York, a women’s clothing brand, will pay for scholarships, faculty recruitment, and improved facilities at the renamed Sidney Kimmel Medical College, the university said.

Mr. Kimmel has given away $860-million, much of it for cancer research and cultural and Jewish causes in his home town. Read more about him in this Chronicle of Philanthropy article.

University of Calgary: A Canadian businessman has donated $92.1-million to his alma mater to support studies of neurology and mental health, inflammation and infectious disease, and chronic illness, the Calgary Herald and The Globe and Mail write. The gift from Geoffrey Cumming, who graduated from the university with a degree in economics in 1974, will be matched by the Alberta provincial government.

Mr. Cumming developed companies in the banking and oil industries and is now the chairman and chief executive of Karori Capital Ltd., a global investment firm.

University of Wisconsin at Madison: The university will create an interdisciplinary research center at its College of Engineering with a $25-million donation from the Grainger Foundation, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. The foundation, based in Lake Forest, Ill., is led by David W. Grainger, who earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Wisconsin in 1950.

University officials said the new Grainger Institute for Engineering will pursue new avenues of research to achieve advances in materials and manufacturing in energy, health care, and other fields. The money will establish an endowment for professorships, faculty awards, and fellowships.

For more information about giving by foundations, corporations, and individuals, see The Chronicle’s gifts database.