$60-Million Pledged to Mass. College by Real-Estate Magnate; Other Gifts

Five higher-education institutions have received big gifts:

• Gordon College, in Wenham, Mass., has received an unrestricted pledge of $60-million from Dale E. Fowler, founder of Fowler Properties, a real-estate development company in Anaheim and Ontario, Calif., and his wife, Sarah Ann, for its endowment. The Fowlers have previously given about $1-million to support the college’s admissions, athletic programs, and capital improvements to the campus and its buildings. This gift — a planned bequest — will nearly triple the institution’s endowment, which currently stands at $33-million.
• Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso has received $50-million from Paul L. Foster, founder and chief executive officer of Western Refining, an oil refinery and marketing company in El Paso, for the El Paso School of Medicine. The gift will be used to buy equipment, conduct research, and recruit and support faculty members.
• Joseph J. Zilber, founder and chairman of Zilber Ltd., a real-estate development and management company in Milwaukee, has pledged $30-million to Marquette University’s law school. Of the gift, $25-million will support scholarships, and the remaining $5-million will help construct a new building. Mr. Zilber graduated from Marquette in 1939 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and graduated from the university’s law school in 1941.

  Mr. Zilber has also pledged $20-million to other organizations in Milwaukee as part of his New Potential for Milwaukee initiative. He has not yet announced how that money will be distributed.

• Rice University, in Houston, has received $30-million from Charles Duncan, chair of Duncan Interests, an investment-management firm in Houston, and his wife, Anne, to build an environmentally sustainable residential college. Mr. Duncan, who graduated from Rice in 1947 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, is a former president of Coca-Cola Company, in Atlanta, and was the Secretary of Energy under President Jimmy Carter.
• Ohio State University, in Columbus, has received $14.3-million from Richard J. Solove, a real-estate developer in Ohio, to support cancer research and treatment. The money comes from the auction of Mr. Solove’s collection of 15 cars — comprising one Panhard, one Mercedes, and 13 Rolls-Royces — and benefits the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, and the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. Mr. Solove graduated from Ohio State in 1948 with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy.

Other recent gifts:

California State U. at Fresno: $3.5-million pledge from Bud and Jan Richter, retired owners of a Fresno company that distributes Pepsi, to establish and endow the university’s Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning. The couple serve as co-chairs of the Campaign for Fresno State.

Clemson U. (S.C.): $1-million from Milton W. Holcombe, co-founder of Electrospace Systems, a telecommunications- and navigation-systems company in Dallas, and his wife, Betty, to endow the university’s electrical- and computer-engineering programs. Mr. Holcombe graduated from Clemson in 1953 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering.

College of Saint Benedict (St. Joseph, Minn.): $5.3-million pledge from Thomas J. Petters, founder and chairman of Petters Group Worldwide, a Minnetonka, Minn., holding company that owns several corporations including Polaroid, to create the Center for Global Education, which will study international businesses and governments and enable students to take classes abroad. Mr. Petters serves on the college’s Board of Trustees.

Dallas Center for the Performing Arts: $1-million from the family of James M. Collins, a former U.S. congressman from Dallas, to support its capital campaign. Mr. Collins died in 1989 at the age of 73. This donation marks the 100th gift of $1-million or more to the performing-arts center, which plans to open in 2009.

Eastern Arizona College Foundation (Thatcher): $1-million from Eloy Cota, owner of E&C Homes and Cota Stucco & Drywall, in Coolidge, Ariz., to help provide housing for students.

Emory U. School of Law (Atlanta): $1-million from C. Robert Henrikson, chairman of MetLife, an insurance company in New York, and his wife, Mary, to endow scholarships and for efforts to encourage diversity at the school. Mr. Henrikson graduated from the law school in 1972.

Humane Society of the United States (Washington): $2.5-million pledge from Leslie Alexander, owner of the Houston Rockets professional basketball team, to support the organization’s efforts to fight animal cruelty.

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington): $1-million pledge from Elliott Broidy, co-founder and chairman of Markstone Investment Group, a private-equity firm in Los Angeles, to support its educational and outreach programs. Mr. Broidy was appointed to the performing-arts center’s Board of Trustees last year by President George W. Bush.

Laurel School (Shaker Heights, Ohio): $5-million from John E. Butler, chief executive officer of Cottingham & Butler, an insurance company in Dubuque, Iowa, and his wife, Alice, for the school’s endowment. Ms. Butler graduated from the all-girls school in 1949. Laurel School also received a bequest of $1.1-million from the estate of W. Hayden Thompson, co-founder of Seagate Investment Company, in Pepper Pike, Ohio, for its endowment. Mr. Thompson died in January at the age of 79.

Loras College (Dubuque, Iowa): $1-million pledge from Patrick J. Lillis, a dermatologist who founded Lake Loveland Dermatology, now known as Skin Care Specialists of Colorado, in Loveland, to help build the college’s new Athletic Wellness Facility. Dr. Lillis graduated from Loras in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in biology.

Naples Botanical Garden (Fla.): $3-million from an anonymous donor to help build an Asian garden, and $2.5-million from another anonymous donor to support the garden’s comprehensive development and conservation project.

Northern Maine Community College (Presque Isle): $1-million from Floyd Harding, a lawyer in Presque Isle, to support scholarships. The gift was given in memory of Mr. Harding’s late wife, B. Jean Harding.

Olivet College (Mich.): $1.8-million from Dave Cutler, a software engineer and designer at Microsoft, in Redmond, Wash., to help build its new events center. Mr. Cutler, who in 2004 gave $2.5-million for the multipurpose center and $700,000 for renovations to Olivet’s football field and stands, graduated from the college in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics.

Oregon State U. (Corvallis): $1.7-million pledge from Patrick Stone, president of Bretton Woods, a real-estate consulting company in Santa Barbara, Calif., and his wife, Vicki, to support programs for academically talented students. Mr. Stone graduated from the university in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in history.

Phillips Collection (Washington): $1-million from an anonymous donor to preserve and repair the collection’s original building, which was built in 1897.

Saint John’s U. (Collegeville, Minn.): $5-million pledge from Dan and Katharine Whalen to create the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement. Mr. Whalen, who graduated from the university in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in government, is president of the Whalen Family Foundation, in Oakland, Calif.

U. of Arizona (Tucson): $3.5-million from Richard Jefferson, who plays for the New Jersey Nets professional basketball team, to help build a new basketball- and volleyball-practice facility. Mr. Jefferson played on the university’s basketball team from 1998 to 2001.

U. of North Carolina at Greensboro: $1-million from Carolyn Bason Long, whose late husband, Russell, was a U.S. senator from Louisiana, to endow scholarships and support academic programs. Ms. Long graduated from the university in 1943 with a bachelor’s degree in secretarial administration.

U. of Richmond (Va.): $9-million from Carole Weinstein, vice chairman of Weinstein Properties, a real-estate management firm in Richmond, to support its international-studies program. Ms. Weinstein, a former trustee, graduated from the university in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree and in 1977 with a master’s degree, both in English.

Western Kentucky U. (Bowling Green): $4-million from C.M. (Bill) Gatton, a businessman from Bristol, Tenn., who invests in banking, car dealerships, and real estate, to support its Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky. The academy is a residential educational program for academically talented high-school juniors and seniors.

Western State College (Gunnison, Colo.): $3-million from W.A. (Tex) Moncrief Jr., owner and president of Moncrief Oil, in Fort Worth, for faculty support, scholarships, technology, and field research in its petroleum-geology program, and to endow a professorship in anthropology. In 2005, Mr. Moncrief donated $1-million to endow a professorship in petroleum geology, and gave $1.5-million last year to endow a director’s position for the college’s Professional Land and Resource Management program.

To submit announcements of donations from individuals of $1-million or more, please send an e-mail message to gifts@philanthropy.com.