Anonymous Donor Leaves $22.5-Million to LaGrange College; Other Gifts

Four higher-education institutions and a symphony have received large gifts.

* LaGrange College, in Georgia, has received a bequest valued at $22.5-million from an anonymous donor who died in February. Three-quarters of the gift consists of stock in a company whose name the college would not disclose; the remainder is a combination of other assets.

President Stuart Gulley said the benefactor’s only stipulation was that the bequest be funneled into either capital projects or endowment.

* An engineer in Columbus, Ga., has given $15-million to Bethany College, in West Virginia, to construct an academic center. H. Stephen Shehane, chairman of Consolidated Fusion Technologies, has no formal ties to the college, which he visited in July. The new facility will be named after his father, Howard.

* Ray Stata, chairman of Analog Devices, in Norwood, Mass., and his wife, Maria, have given $10-million to the Boston Symphony Orchestra to endow the music director’s position. The gift brings the orchestra to within $13-million of its $130-million campaign goal.

* Connecticut College, in New London, has received a $10-million bequest from the estate of Sarah (Sally) Pithouse Becker, a 1927 graduate who died in January. A college spokeswoman described Ms. Becker as a private person and a savvy investor. Ms. Becker designated her gift for endowment.

* The Scripps Research Institute, in San Diego, has received $10-million from Helen L. Dorris, a professor emeritus at San Diego State University, to create a neurological-research center in honor of her late husband, Harold. Researchers there will concentrate on curing brain disorders.

Other recent gifts:

Abbe Museum (Me.): $3,750,000 from an anonymous donor, for endowment.

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco: $5,000,000 from United States Senator Dianne Feinstein of San Francisco, Democrat of California, and her husband, Richard C. Blum, to construct a theater.

Boston College: $5,000,000 from John A. NcNeice, Jr., of Canton, Mass., retired chairman of the Colonial Group, to endow student retreat and volunteer programs, and a $3,000,000 bequest from the estates of John Rourke of Brighton, Mass., and his sister, Mary, owners of Rourke’s Pharmacy, for a professorship in physics, a research fund in chemistry, and a student center.

BTI Center for the Performing Arts (N.C.): $3,100,000 from Peter Loftin of Raleigh, N.C., chairman of BTI Telecom Corporation, to help construct this center in Raleigh.

Clemson U. (S.C.): $3,000,000 bequest from the estate of William M. Ballenger of Greer, S.C., a retired engineer, for unrestricted use — officials will place the money into scholarship endowment; and $1,000,000 from an anonymous donor to endow the maintenance of the Fort Hill House, the campus’s centerpiece.

College of the Southwest (N.M.): $2,000,000 from Bill Daniels of Denver, chairman of the cable-television company Daniels Communications, for endowment.

Concordia College (Mich.): $1,000,000 from an anonymous donor to endow a visiting-artist program at the School of Arts and Humanities.

Duke U. (N.C.): Charitable lead trust valued at $2,500,000 from John Koskinen of Washington, chairman of the President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion, and his wife, Patricia, to endow scholarships for female athletes and for improvements to athletics facilities.

Florida Southern College: $1,000,000 from Dorothy Forsythe of Jacksonville, Fla., widow of George (Skeets), former vice-president of the Jacksonville division of Publix Super Markets, for a professorship in advertising.

Georgetown U. (D.C.): $2,000,000 from John A. (Jack) McCrane of New York, a businessman, to endow a professorship in the School of Foreign Service.

Glendale Community College (Cal.): $1,000,000 from Larry Cimmarusti of La Canada Flintridge, Cal., and his brother, Ralph, owners of CIMM’S Inc., a conglomerate of businesses, for the NASA/JPL Science Education Center.

Kennesaw State U. (Ga.): $1,000,000 from John Clendenin of West Palm Beach, Fla., retired chairman of BellSouth, and his wife, Ann, to expand the College of Science and Mathematics.

National Multiple Sclerosis Society (N.Y.): $1,000,000 from Richard Slifka of New York, co-owner of Global Petroleum Corporation, and his family, to help establish a national data base on the disease.

New Jersey Institute of Technology: $3,000,000 from Will Kupfrian of Stewart, Fla., an engineer, to endow scholarships; $1,000,000 from Seymour (Zoom) Fleisher of Kinnelon, N.J., founder of Pilot Manufacturing, for scholarships for athletes; $1,000,000 from Frank Hurlburt of Islamorada, Fla., retired chief executive officer of Automatic Switch, and his wife, Jean, for a professorship in management-information systems and for scholarships; and a $1,000,000 bequest from Henry J. Leir of New York, an international trader, for a professorship in international trade in the School of Management.

Pace Academy (Ga.): $1,200,000 from the financier J. B. Fuqua of Atlanta, chairman of the Fuqua Companies, to establish a professorship in debate and public speaking. Pace Academy is a private day school for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Taylor U. (Ind.): $1,500,000 from Coburn Metcalfe of Maumee, Ohio, a businessman, for a visual-arts center.

Trinity College (Conn.): $4,000,000 from an anonymous donor to endow faculty research and three postdoctoral teaching positions in mathematics.

U. of Alabama at Birmingham: $2,000,000 bequest from the estate of W. Hudson Turner of Dothan, Ala., a physician and a banker, to endow medical scholarships for students from Alabama.

U. of Notre Dame (Ind.): $1,000,000 from Robert O’Grady of New York, an insurance consultant and an investor, and his family, to endow a collection of Latin American literature.

U. of Rhode Island: $2,950,000 bequest from the estate of J. Louis Jack of North Haven, Conn., a surgeon, for loans to students.

U. of Rochester Medical Center (N.Y.): $5,000,000 from Richard T. Aab of Rochester, co-founder of the telecommunications company ACC Corporation, and his family, for a new research institute in the biomedical sciences.

U. of Texas at Austin: $2,000,000 from Morton Topfer of Austin, vice-chairman of Dell Computer Corporation, and his wife, Angela, to endow the Performing Arts Center.

Vassar College (N.Y.): $1,000,000 from Bennett Boskey of Bethesda, Md., a lawyer, to endow a professorship in political science and international relations.

Washington Hospital (Pa.): $5,000,000 from Wilfred R. (Pete) Cameron of Washington, Pa., former owner of Cameron Coca-Cola, and his wife, Nan, to help construct a health-promotion center.