$85-Million Donated to U. of Wisconsin by Group of Donors; Other Gifts

Fifteen institutions have received big gifts:

• The University of Wisconsin at Madison has received 13 gifts totaling $85-million for the Wisconsin School of Business. The donation came from several alumni and their spouses, including Paul Collins, retired vice chairman of Citigroup, in New York, and his wife, Carol; Sheldon B. Lubar, founder and chairman of Lubar & Company, an investment firm in Milwaukee, and his wife, Marianne; and John Morgridge, former chairman of Cisco Systems, an Internet technology company in San Jose, Calif., and his wife, Tashia. This gift requires that the business school not be named for any individual donor or entity for at least 20 years.
• The Jewish Home and Care Center Foundation, in Milwaukee, has received a bequest of $38-million from the estate of Lillian Garner, whose family founded and ran the Northwestern Weiss Woodwork Corporation, in Milwaukee, and the Phoenix Furniture Corporation, in Sheboygan, Wis., to support medical care for residents who do not have family members or money. She also donated furniture, paintings, and other items to the home. Mrs. Garner, who lived in La Jolla, Calif., died in July at the age of 95.
• Marc Andreessen, a software engineer and entrepreneur, and his wife, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, founder and chairman of the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund, in San Jose, Calif., have donated $27.5-million to Stanford Hospital & Clinics, in California, to help build an emergency department, purchase equipment, hire staff members, support research, and endow a position of Medical Director for Disaster Preparedness. Ms. Arrillaga-Andreessen, who teaches strategic philanthropy at Stanford, has received three master’s degrees from that institution, in art history, business, and education. Mr. Andreessen co-founded Netscape Communications, a Web browser and Internet-services company that was sold to America Online in 1998. He is also co-founder of Ning, an online social-networking program.
• Dan L. Duncan, founder and chairman of Enterprise Products, an energy company in Houston, and his family have given $25-million to the Houston Museum of Natural Science for its capital campaign. The museum plans to build an addition that is likely to include classrooms, exhibition galleries, a collections-storage facility, educational facilities, and a Hall of Paleontology.
• Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, in New York, has received a bequest of $20.7-million from Ronald H. Lauterstein, co-founder and former president of Comcare, a nursing- and home-care service provider in Toronto, to support faculty development and endow a professorship in sociomedical sciences. Mr. Lauterstein, who died last year, received a master’s degree from the school in 1958.
• Ohio State University, in Columbus, and the University of Cincinnati have each received anonymous gifts of $20-million to support space-exploration research.

• The gift to Ohio State University will endow two professorships: one, in honor of the astronaut John Glenn, will go to a faculty member in the College of Engineering who is studying propulsion technologies, interplanetary transport, or power systems for space travel or moon and planetary bases; the other professorship, in the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, is named in honor of Thomas Jefferson and will enable a faculty member to conduct research on planets that may be able to support life. The money will also endow fellowships for students who study subjects related to space exploration.

  The donation to the University of Cincinnati will endow two professorships, named for Thomas Jefferson and the astronaut Alan B. Shepard, that will be awarded to faculty members who have demonstrated expertise in research and teaching related to the exploration of outer space. Additionally, the money will create the Space Exploration Research Fund, to encourage research collaborations between disciplines, support educational programs, and endow fellowships. The University of Cincinnati says the gift it received was a bequest.

• Cornell College, in Mount Vernon, Iowa, has received a pledge of $15.1-million from Richard Small, retired chief executive officer of TriStar Aerospace, in Tulsa, Okla., and his wife, Norma, retired vice president at TriStar, for the endowment and capital projects, including renovations to turn a dormitory into an alumni center. Mr. Small, who is a trustee of Cornell College, graduated in 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and business.
• The de Young Museum, in San Francisco, has received a gift of artifacts from New Guinea valued at $15-million from John Friede, a Rye, N.Y., entrepreneur and venture investor in health care and computer security, and his wife, Marcia. The donation of 137 pieces is part of a pledge the couple made to give the museum their collection of more than 3,000 sculptures, textiles, and other objects from New Guinea.
• Marquette University, in Milwaukee, has received $15-million from Robert Kern, founder and retired chairman of Generac Power Systems, a generator-manufacturing company in Waukesha, Wis., and his wife, Patricia, to help build a new engineering building, which will house classrooms, teaching laboratories, research facilities, and offices and will encourage interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Utah State University’s Uintah Basin Campus, in Vernal, has received $15-million from Marc Bingham, founder of the Phone Directories Company, an independent publisher of phone listings in Orem, Utah, and his wife, Debbie, former vice president of sales and business-development officer at the Phone Directories Company. The Binghams have designated their gift to help build the Entrepreneurship and Energy Research Center, which will train students in business and environmental disciplines.
• Edward P. Bass, chairman of Fine Line, an investment and venture-capital management firm in Fort Worth, has donated $12-million to the World Wildlife Fund, in Washington, to support the organization’s operations and science conservation program and to train conservation leaders from other countries. Mr. Bass, who is a member of the organization’s Board of Directors, has donated a total of $25-million to that group, including this gift.
• The University of California at Davis has received a pledge of $10-million from Maurice J. Gallagher Jr., majority owner and chief executive officer of Allegiant Travel Company, in Las Vegas, and his wife, Marcia, for the Graduate School of Management. The Gallaghers’ gift will help pay construction costs on the business school’s new building and create an endowment. Mr. Gallagher graduated from the university in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in history.
• The University of Tennessee at Knoxville has received a pledge of $10-million from Dee Haslam, chief executive officer of RIVR Media, a company that produces cable programs in Knoxville, and her husband, Jimmy, president and chief executive officer of Pilot Travel Centers, a chain of rest stops headquartered in Knoxville. Of the gift, $3-million will endow research and graduate programs in the university’s Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, $2.5-million will endow scholarships, $2.5-million will create an endowment fund for professorships and department chairs, and the remaining $2-million will support construction and programs at the Forensic Anthropology Center. Mr. Haslam graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Ms. Haslam, who graduated in 1986, received a bachelor’s degree in education. Jimmy’s parents, Jim and Natalie Haslam, recently promised $5-million to the institution.
• Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, has received a pledge of more than $10-million from an anonymous donor for its capital campaign. The donor gave this money specifically to encourage the university to plan a new geosciences building.

Other recent gifts:

Butler U. (Indianapolis): $5-million pledge from Frank Levinson, managing director of Small World Group, an engineering-research organization in Syracuse, Ind., to improve its science programs and buy a supercomputer. Mr. Levinson graduated from the university in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics.

Calvin Theological Seminary (Grand Rapids, Mich.): $2.1-million from Sid Jansma Jr., president of Wolverine Gas & Oil Corporation, in Grand Rapids, and his late wife, Joanne, to help provide tuition loans.

Columbia U. (New York): $5-million pledge from Robert K. Kraft, chairman of the Kraft Group, an investment-holdings company in Foxboro, Mass., and owner of the New England Patriots football team, to support the university’s intercollegiate athletics program. Mr. Kraft, who graduated from Columbia in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree, is a trustee emeritus.

Guilford College (Greensboro, N.C.): $1.6-million pledge from Seth Macon, retired vice president of Jefferson-Pilot Corporation, a financial-services company in Greensboro now known as Lincoln Financial, and his wife, Hazel, a retired teacher, to help build a welcome center and offices for advancement staff members. Mr. Macon graduated from Guilford in 1940 with a bachelor’s degree in economics; Ms. Macon graduated the following year with a bachelor’s degree in history.

Habitat for Humanity of Dane County (Madison, Wis.): $1-million from Bill and Jan DeAtley to support a neighborhood-revitalization program. Mr. DeAtley is president of the organization’s Board of Directors, and is a former vice president and major shareholder of Strategic Minerals Corporation, a company in Danbury, Conn., that provides materials to help process steel, chemicals, and other products.

Lake Erie College (Painesville, Ohio): $4-million from an anonymous donor to help renovate the Austin Science Center.

Ohio Wesleyan U. (Delaware): $3.3-million pledge from Evan R. Corns, retired co-founder of America’s Body Company, a truck-equipment installer and supplier in Columbus, Ohio, to support the annual fund, endowment, and capital projects, and to endow a fund for and a professorship in geographic studies. Mr. Corns graduated from Ohio Wesleyan in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in history and is a member of the Board of Trustees.

Purdue U. (West Lafayette, Ind.): $2-million from Drew Brees, quarterback for the New Orleans Saints football team, and his wife, Brittany, co-founder of the Brees Dream Foundation, in Cleveland, to expand an academic center for student athletes. Mr. Brees, who played for the university’s football team, graduated in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial management. Ms. Brees also received her bachelor’s degree there in 2000, in organizational leadership and supervision.

Randolph-Macon College (Ashland, Va.): $5.1-million from Macon Brock, chairman of Dollar Tree, a chain of retail stores based in Chesapeake, Va., and his wife, Joan, for a capital project, a professorship, academic-program support, a speakers’ program, and career services. Mr. Brock graduated from the college in 1964. The college has also received a pledge of $1.3-million from Ben Schapiro, a partner at QuestMark Partners, an investment firm in Baltimore, and his wife, Peggy, to support the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Additionally, an anonymous 1962 alumnus and his wife have donated $1-million to endow a scholarship and support the Athletic Endowment and the McGraw-Page Library, and another anonymous donor has given $1-million to endow scholarships and support student programs.

San Jose State U., Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering (Calif.): $4-million from Donald Beall, retired chairman of the Rockwell Corporation, an aerospace company in Milwaukee, to endow a deanship in engineering. Mr. Beall graduated from the university in 1960 with a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering.

Santa Clara U. (Calif.): $3-million from Jack Sullivan, co-founder of Harris Bretall Sullivan & Smith, an investment firm in San Francisco, and his wife, Joan, to help build a new aquatics center. Mr. Sullivan graduated from the university in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and in 1976 with a master’s degree in business.

Simmons College (Boston): $1-million from an anonymous alumna and her husband to support a study-abroad scholarship, endow a fund to provide money for short-term overseas courses, and help students pay for study-abroad programs.

Trinity-Pawling School (Pawling, N.Y.): $5-million from an anonymous donor to renovate and expand the dining hall. The donor previously gave $1.3-million to endow a scholarship for student athletes and provide unrestricted support for the capital campaign.

U. of Colorado at Boulder: $2.3-million pledge from J.D. Abrams, founder of J.D. Abrams L.P., a civil-engineering firm in Austin, Tex., and his wife, Elsie, to establish a multicultural student center and to support a scholarship fund for engineering students.

U. of Houston, Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management: $1.5-million from Nick Massad, president of American Liberty Hospitality, a Houston-based company that owns and operates hotels, and his wife, Vicki, senior vice president at American Liberty Hospitality. The money is earmarked for the college’s Library and Hospitality Industry Archives. Mr. Massad and his three children all graduated from the College of Hotel and Restaurant Management: Mr. Massad in 1973, and his children in 2002 and 2003.

U. of Illinois Foundation (Urbana): $2-million pledge from Mannie L. Jackson, owner and chairman of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball exhibition team, his wife, Cathy, and their children, Cassie and Candace, to create the Illinois Academic Enrichment and Leadership Program at the College of Applied Health Sciences. The program provides minority students with academic and career support. Mr. Jackson was the first African-American team captain of the university’s basketball team; he graduated in 1960.

U. of Maine (Orono): $5-million pledge from Richard R. Collins, retired chief executive officer of American Life Insurance Company, in Wilmington, Del., and his wife, Anne, to help renovate the Maine Center for the Arts and the university’s gym.

U. of Miami (Coral Gables, Fla.): $1-million from Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, an actor and former professional wrestler, and Dany Garcia Johnson, founder of JDM Partners, a wealth-management firm in Miami. The money will help renovate the football facilities. Mr. Johnson graduated from the university in 1995 with an associate’s degree in business, and Ms. Johnson received a bachelor’s degree there in business administration in 1992.

U. of Mississippi (Oxford): $5.3-million from Ed and Becky Meek, founders of Oxford Publishing, a company that specializes in publications and events focused on the food and drink industry, to help create the School of Journalism, Marketing-Communications, and Technology. Mr. Meek graduated from the university in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and in 1963 with a master’s degree in liberal arts with an emphasis on journalism. Ms. Meek graduated from the U. of Mississippi in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in education and in 1967 with a master’s degree in special education.

U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: $5-million from an anonymous donor to expand the honors program by endowing five professorships. The university also received $1-million from Eric and Lori Sklut and Ms. Sklut’s parents, Leon and Sandra Levine, to recruit a young professor of Hebrew literature and Israeli culture to the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies. Mr. Sklut, who graduated from the university in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, is founder of Perfection Automotive, a Charlotte, N.C., company that develops and markets products for carmakers. Mr. Levine is founder and chairman emeritus of Family Dollar Stores, a chain of retail outlets headquartered in Charlotte.

U. of Pennsylvania, Wharton School (Philadelphia): $2-million from Robert Haft, founder and chairman of MainStreet Lender, a Chevy Chase, Md., company that makes loans to small businesses, to endow the school’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program and to provide unrestricted support. The program brings in entrepreneurs to meet with students and serve as mentors. Mr. Haft graduated from the business school in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree.

U. of Tennessee at Knoxville: $5-million pledge from Jim Haslam, chairman of Pilot Travel Centers, a chain of rest stops headquartered in Knoxville, and his wife, Natalie, to support scholarships and an endowment fund for professorships and department chairs. Mr. and Ms. Haslam both graduated in 1952; he received a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and she received her bachelor’s degree in liberal arts. The couple donated a total of $32.5-million last year to the university. The couple’s son, Jimmy, and daughter-in-law, Dee, recently donated $10-million to the institution.

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