4 Organizations Receive $134-Million in Stock from the Buffetts; Other Donations

Several non-profit organizations have received big gifts.

* Warren E. Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, and his wife, Susan,

have made a gift of stock estimated to be worth $134-million to four organizations.

A spokeswoman at Berkshire Hathaway would divulge neither the names of the organizations receiving shares nor the amounts going to each. Mr. Buffett declined an interview request.

* Frank Batten, Sr., the retired chairman of Landmark Communications, has given $60-million to the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, for the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.

The amount is the largest ever given to a business school, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. The gift also pushes the university’s capital campaign past its $1-billion goal.

Mr. Batten and school officials earmarked the gift to support scholarships, a fellows program to bring business executives to the school, and a venture-capital fund that students can mine to test entrepreneurial projects.

The university will continue its capital campaign, which has tallied $1.036-billion to date, until December 2000.

* Henry Samueli, co-founder of the telecommunications company Broadcom, and his wife, Susan, have made gifts totaling $50-million to the engineering schools at the Universities of California at Los Angeles and at Irvine.

The couple designated $30-million to U.C.L.A. and $20-million to the Irvine institution. At the donors’ request, the gifts will support fellowships, capital improvements, faculty research, and other needs.

* Robert E. Petersen, a magazine publisher who began his career by founding Hot Rod, and his wife, Margie, have offered $25-million to help steer a Los Angeles automobile museum toward solvency.

The Petersen Automotive Museum, a branch of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County that was established with a $5-million gift from Mr. Petersen in 1994, has been carrying a $24-million debt. The couple’s proposed gift would wipe out the deficit and create a foundation to oversee the museum’s operations. The offer is pending approval from the Natural History Museum’s Board of Directors.

* Cyrus Katzen, a businessman and dentist, and his wife, Myrtle, have made gifts totaling $15-million to American University, in Washington.

The couple donated $10-million to construct a new arts center. An accompanying gift of art works — which includes pieces by Chagall, Picasso, and Warhol — is valued at $5-million.

* Peter J. Tobin, the dean of the St. John’s University College of Business Administration, and his wife, Mary, have given $10.25-million to endow the college, in Jamaica, N.Y.

Mr. Tobin became dean after a 25-year banking career. In 1965, he earned a degree from the college, which will bear his name effective next summer.

* Winton M. Blount, a construction and manufacturing executive and former postmaster general, has given $10-million to endow the National Postal Museum, in Washington.

An Alabama native, Mr. Blount built fish ponds in the state and eventually expanded his business interests. He designated his gift for the creation of a center for postal studies at the museum, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution.

Other recent gifts:

Arts Center Stage (Tex.): $5,000,000 from Kevin Rollins of Austin, Tex., vice-chairman of Dell Computer, and his wife, Debra, to help construct the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Center for the Performing Arts.

California State U.: $1,000,000 from Florence Rigdon of Rancho Mirage, Cal., a dress maker and a painter, to help construct the first building at the university’s Coachella Valley campus.

Canisius College (N.Y.): $1,000,000 from R. Carlos Carballada of Rochester, N.Y., a banker, and his wife, Virginia, for scholarships.

Catawba College (N.C.): Charitable remainder trust valued at $1,200,000 from an anonymous donor for capital needs at the Center for the Environment.

Community Foundation Serving Coastal South Carolina: $6,500,000 from Anthony E. Bakker of Charleston, S.C., founder of Blackbaud Inc., and his wife, Linda, for a donor-advised endowment.

Duke U. (N.C.): 14 Old Master paintings valued at $2,500,000 from Richard Segal of White Plains, N.Y., chairman of the investment-banking company Seavest; his sister, Wendy Segal Masi of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., associate dean of the Family and School Center at Nova Southeastern U.; and their families, for the Museum of Art’s permanent collection.

Grand Valley State U. (Mich.): $1,000,000 from Stuart Padnos of Holland, Mich., senior executive vice-president of Louis Padnos Iron and Metal Company, for study-abroad scholarships.

Harvard U. (Mass.): $1,700,000 bequest from the estate of Peter Louis Hornbeck of Andover, Mass., a landscape architect and former professor at the Graduate School of Design, to establish a professorship in landscape architecture at the school.

Illinois College: $5,800,000 bequest from the estate of James Merrill of Santa Barbara, Cal., a radar engineer, and his wife, Anna, a librarian, for scholarships.

KQED (Cal.): $3,000,000 bequest from the estates of Henry H. Rifkin of El Cerrito, Cal., a physician, and his wife, Sally, an artist, for endowment.

Luther College (Iowa): $4,000,000 bequest from the estate of Edward H. Dahly of New York, an industrialist, to endow scholarships for students from southeastern Minnesota and northeastern Iowa.

Memorial Hermann Healthcare System (Tex.): $4,000,000 from William F. Galtney, Jr., of Houston, chairman of the Galtney Group, a consortium of companies that provides insurance-related services to health-care organizations, and his wife, Susanne, for the emergency center.

Monmouth Medical Center (N.J.): $1,000,000 charitable remainder trust from Gloria York of Long Branch, N.J., owner of a dance and fitness studio, for renal services and the Jacqueline M. Wilentz Comprehensive Breast Center.

Monroe County Community College (Mich.): $1,000,000 from Shirley A. Meyer of Stuart, Fla., whose father-in-law, August F. Meyer, founded Monroe Auto Equipment Company, to endow arts programs.

Piedmont Hospital (Ga.): $3,000,000 from J. B. Fuqua of Atlanta, chairman of the Fuqua Companies, for patient- and staff-education programs at the Fuqua Heart Center.

The Pingry School (N.J.): $1,600,000 from Douglas B. Macrae of Boston, president of VideoGuide, and his wife, Julie, for the capital campaign.

Rhodes College (Tenn.): $1,000,000 bequest from the estate of James F. Ruffin, Jr., of Memphis, founder of Ruffin’s Imports and Interiors, to establish a professorship in Asian art.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Wisconsin: $1,000,000 from Joseph B. Tate of Milwaukee, chairman of Superior Services, a waste-management company, for endowment.

U. of Florida: $2,000,000 from Earl Powell of Miami, co-founder of Trivest, and his wife, Christy, a zoologist, for research at the College of Medicine’s Gene Therapy Center, and $1,000,000 from William R. Hough of St. Petersburg, Fla., chairman of the municipal-bond firm William R. Hough & Company, and his wife, Hazel, to endow a master’s program in finance at the College of Business.

U. of Southern Indiana: $1,000,000 from Donald R. Hazeltine of Sarasota, Fla., retired president of the Southern Indiana Operating Company, which owned McDonald’s franchises, and his wife, Allene, for unrestricted use.

Yale U.: $3,000,000 from Nicholas F. Brady of Far Hills, N.J., chairman of Darby Overseas Investments and former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, to renovate the squash courts at Payne Whitney Gymnasium, and $2,000,000 from Forest E. Mars, Jr., and John F. Mars of McLean, Va., sons of the late candy maker Forest Mars, Sr., to establish a visiting professorship in ethics, politics, and economics.