November 1, 2007 | Read Time: 3 minutes
Lorry I. Lokey, the founder of Business Wire, a San Francisco company that distributes press releases, is giving nearly $75-million to the University of Oregon, in Eugene, to support science programs and other efforts.
More than half of the $74.5-million commitment — approximately $50-million — will go to the university’s Science Advancement and Graduate Education Initiative.
Of that $50-million, about $30-million will endow faculty positions, $10-million will endow financial aid for graduate students pursuing a Ph.D. in science, and another $10-million will endow science programs and research in genetic and molecular biology, human physiology, nanotechnology, and neuroscience.
Another $24.5-million of the gift will pay for other programs. Of this amount, the President’s Special Projects Fund will get $5.5-million to support the university’s needs, and another $5-million will go to the university’s science library. A program encompassing humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences will get $3-million, while $2-million will endow a chemistry professorship. Another $2-million will endow scholarships in the School of Journalism, and the university’s alumni center will also get $2-million.
The remaining $5-million will pay the start-up costs of all the efforts the gift is supporting.
Visiting the Campus
Mr. Lokey sold Business Wire last year to Berkshire Hathaway, the Omaha insurance and investment company owned by the billionaire Warren Buffett, for an undisclosed amount.
The university and Mr. Lokey first started talking about the gift in the spring, said Allan Price, the institution’s vice president for advancement. Recently, Mr. Lokey visited the university and spent several days talking to scientists there, visiting the labs, and listening to science faculty members and graduate students talk about their research.
“We put him through a tiring, grueling schedule, and he just thrived on it,” said Dave Frohnmayer, the university’s president.
By the end of the visit, Mr. Lokey had decided to make the gift, Mr. Price said. Mr. Lokey worked with university officials to decide how much of the gift would go to support each of his priorities.
Mr. Price said the university will receive $6.5-million of the gift up front, and then another $4-million over the next four years. Mr. Lokey will give the university most of the remainder of the money in 2012.
Mr. Lokey, who is 80 and lives in Portland, Ore., never attended the university. (He graduated from Stanford University in 1949, and last year gave Stanford about $25-million for a new stem-cell research facility). However, he has been a major benefactor to the University of Oregon for several years and has donated $57-million over the last four years, beyond the commitment announced last month. He also serves as a trustee at the University of Oregon Foundation.
Mr. Lokey was ranked No. 11 last year on The Chronicle’s annual list of the most generous donors for the year, contributing a total of $163-million to nonprofit groups in 2006. He has landed on the list every year for the past seven years. Discussing the fortune he made selling Business Wire, he told The Chronicle, “I’m going to dump all of this money by the time I’m 90.”
