$42.5-Million Committed to Va. University; Other Gifts

Four institutions have received big gifts:

• William H. Goodwin Jr., chairman and president of CCA Industries, a holding company in Richmond, Va., and his wife, Alice, have committed $32.5-million to Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, for its School of Engineering. The Goodwins plan to match any donations to the engineering school up to the amount of their pledge.

  The university has also received a $10-million pledge from Steven Markel, vice chairman of the Markel Corporation, a property and insurance holding company in Richmond, and his wife, Katherine, for the School of Business. The money, which will be paid over five years, will help pay for a new building and endow professorships and student scholarships.

• The Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, has received $15-million from an anonymous donor to construct research facilities in the basic sciences and to support research in the Therapeutic Cognitive Neuroscience Program at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
• Roy Disney, the former vice chairman of the Walt Disney Company and the current chairman of Shamrock Holdings, the Disney family’s investment company in Burbank, Calif., and his wife, Patricia, have pledged $10-million to Providence Saint Joseph Foundation, in Burbank, for a new cancer center. The center, which is associated with the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, will offer both Eastern and allopathic medical and healing treatments for cancer patients.
• San Francisco State University has received a $10-million pledge from Manny Mashouf, the founder and chairman of Bebe Stores, in Brisbane, Calif., and his wife, Neda, who serves as vice chair of the women’s-clothing company her husband founded. The money will be used for a new performing and electronic media arts building at the university’s College of Creative Arts. The couple, who live in Los Angeles, both graduated from the university.

Other recent gifts:

Brandeis U. (Waltham, Mass.): $3.5-million from Orrie M. Friedman, a professor emeritus of chemistry at the university and the founder of GrenPharma, a biotechnology company in Waltham, to endow a professorship in chemistry.

Burlington Community Land Trust (Vt.): $1-million from Lois McClure, of Shelburne, Vt., for an endowment that will help the organization develop affordable housing for local residents. Ms. McClure is the widow of Warren J. McClure, who was an owner of the Burlington Free Press.

Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis: $5.4-million pledge from Emily Rauh Pulitzer, chairman of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, in St. Louis, and a member of the museum’s board, for its capital campaign and for endowment. The museum has also received a $1-million pledge from John and Alison Ferring, of St. Louis, for the same purposes. Both Mr. Ferring, president of Plaze Incorporated, an aerosol-container manufacturer in St. Louis, and Ms. Ferring serve on the museum’s board.

Doane College (Crete, Neb.): $5-million pledge from an anonymous donor for a new building that will house a health and wellness center. In order to receive the money, the college must raise $3-million for a new teacher-education and arts building by May 2006.

George Washington U. (D.C.): $1-million from W. Russell Ramsey and his wife, Norma, for an investment portfolio in the university’s endowment to be run by students in the M.B.A. program. Mr. Ramsey is chairman and chief investment officer of Ramsey Asset Management, in Arlington, Va., and is vice chairman of the university’s board.

Grameen Foundation USA (Washington): $5-million from Janet McKinley and her husband, George Miller, to help pay for microfinance loans and financial services for poor people in developing countries. Ms. McKinley is the retired chair of the Income Fund of America, an investment company in San Francisco, and Mr. Miller is the retired chairman of Capital Research Company, a Los Angeles investment firm.

Kettering U. (Flint, Mich.): $1-million from Robert Oswald and his wife, Marcy, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., to endow an international-exchange program for students and faculty members. Mr. Oswald is chairman of Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, in Elyria, Ohio.

Luther College (Decorah, Iowa): $2-million from Milton and Dorothy Roelfs, of Escondido, Calif., for an atrium and plaza entrance to a new science center, and $1-million from David Carlson, president of the Fred Carlson Company, a construction business in Decorah, and his wife, Brenda, for the new science center. The Carlsons graduated from the college, and Mr. Carlson serves on its Board of Regents.

Santa Clara U. (Calif.): $1-million from John M. and Abby Sobrato, of Saratoga, Calif., to help build a new library. Mr. Sobrato is general partner of Sobrato Development Companies, in Cupertino, Calif., and the couple are both 1983 graduates of the university.