Artist Amy Sherald Gives University $1 Million to Honor Young Black Woman Killed by Police in 2020

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:

University of Louisville

The artist Amy Sherald gave $1 million to establish the Brandeis Law School’s Breonna Taylor Legacy Fellowship and the Breonna Taylor Legacy Scholarship for undergraduates.

Sherald painted the now-famous cover portrait of Breonna Taylor for Vanity Fair’s September 2020 issue. Taylor worked as an emergency room technician for the university’s health system. She was 26 when she was shot and killed by police officers in a no-knock raid on her apartment in March 2020. Her killing set off a flurry of racial-justice protests in the following months.

The gift is the result of distributions from the trust Sherald established after the university’s Speed Art Museum and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture bought the painting. The Speed Art Museum’s purchase was made possible by a grant from the Ford Foundation, and the Smithsonian’s purchase was made possible by a gift from the actor Kate Capshaw and the film director Steven Spielberg through their Hearthland Foundation. The portrait of Taylor is currently featured in the exhibition “Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.” at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

It was Sherald’s desire that the painting be co-owned by the two institutions, according to a news release. The portrait is expected to return to Louisville for display at the Speed Art Museum in the spring of 2023. Sherald is a portrait painter whose work primarily depicts the experiences of African Americans. She has won acclaim for her portraits, which include the official National Portrait Gallery painting of former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Augustana College

Murry Gerber pledged $40 million to match donations up to that amount from other donors to endow financial aid and scholarships to first-generation college students and low-income students.

Gerber, a first-generation college student, graduated from Augustana in 1975 and started his career at Shell Oil. In 1998, he became CEO of EQT Corporation, a gas exploration and production company in Pittsburgh, retiring from that role in 2010 and serving as the company’s executive chairman until the following year. He serves on the college’s Board of Trustees.

“Our family did not fully understand the breadth of opportunities available from a college education nor the generational benefits of a college degree,” said Gerber in a news release. “Augustana College understands this fundamentally and is uniquely equipped to support students through the scary and challenging transitions that first-generation students often experience.”

Purdue University

John Martinson gave $25 million to back undergraduate research efforts, scholarship and creative projects, leadership and professional development, and other programs. University officials plan to name the honors college for the donor.

Martinson is chairman of Martinson Ventures, a venture-capital firm in Newtown, Pa., and founded Edison Partners, a Princeton, N.J., investment firm in 1986. He earned a master’s degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Purdue in 1971.

In addition, the university received $3 million from Donald and Lois McCrosky to support equine health and performance research and to name the Donald J. McCrosky Equine Sports Medicine Center. Donald McCrosky earned a veterinary medicine degree at Purdue in 1968 and went on to open his own practice, which included both small and large animals. In 2004, he sold his small-animal practice to focus solely on equine medicine, specializing in reproduction.

McCrosky grew up on a farm where he learned to drive his father’s team of horses when he was 5 years old. His grandfather, also a farmer, gave him his first horse. Today, McCrosky and his wife own more than 50 racehorses and broodmares.

Harvard Business School

Robert Kraft and his son Jonathan Kraft gave $24 million through the Kraft Family Foundation to establish the Robert K. Kraft Family Fellowship Fund, which will support students from low-income backgrounds who are first-generation college students or from other underrepresented backgrounds.

Robert Kraft founded and is chairman and CEO of the Kraft Group, an international company that owns businesses in professional sports, manufacturing, and real-estate development. He earned an MBA at the business school in 1965. Jonathan Kraft, who earned his MBA at the school in 1990, serves at president of the Kraft Group.

Roger Williams University

William and Joyce Cummings gave $20 million through their Cummings Foundation to support the School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation, which will be renamed the Cummings School of Architecture. The gift will also create the Cummings Institute for Real Estate, which will be housed within the architecture school. The school will offer a combination of architecture, real-estate, historic preservation, and planning degrees and certificate programs.

William Cummings founded Cummings Properties in 1970, serving first as president and later as chairman. He is not a Roger Williams alumnus; he graduated from Tufts University in 1958. He started his career as a salesman for Vick’s VapoRub in Greensboro, N.C., and Gorton’s Seafoods of Gloucester, Mass. He acquired, built up, and eventually sold Old Medford Foods, a juice-concentrate manufacturer in Medford, Mass. He got his start in commercial real estate when he built a small building next door to Old Medford Foods.

University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

Robert and Donna Manning gave $5 million to endow five new professorships in neurosciences, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, nursing, and biomedical sciences.

Robert Manning is chairman of MFS Investment Management, a Boston investment firm where he previously served as president and CEO. He earned a degree in information systems management from UMass Lowell in 1984 and currently serves as chairman of the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees. Donna Manning retired as an oncology nurse from Boston Medical Center in 2018 after a 35-year career. She earned a nursing degree and an MBA from UMass Lowell in 1985 and 1991, respectively.

The Mannings are longtime donors to the university. They appeared on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list for the $50 million they gave the university in 2021.

To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated regularly.