Big Gifts Benefit Education, Health Care, and the Arts; Other Donations

Several organizations have received big gifts.

* An anonymous donor has given $12-million to Marlboro College, in Vermont. The benefactor designated $2-million to construct a wing for the library, and the remainder for endowment.

The college, which enrolls 270 students, must raise half of the endowment portion, or $5-million, from other sources to get the $10-million. The donor did not set a deadline for the match.

* The University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, has received $11-million from the retailer Jay H. Baker, and his wife, Patty. Mr. Baker, who graduated from the university’s Wharton School of Business in 1956, is president of the Kohl’s department-store chain.

The Bakers earmarked their gift for the construction of an undergraduate facility at the Wharton School and to endow undergraduate scholarships.

* The New York financier Herbert A. Allen has given $10-million to his alma mater, the Hackley School, in Tarrytown, N.Y. Mr. Allen, president of the investment bank Allen & Company, designated $3-million to purchase 172 acres adjacent to the private day school that will more than double the size of its campus. The school will use the remainder of the gift for capital needs.

* Iowa State University, located in Ames, has received $10-million to endow a research center at its new Plant Sciences Institute.

Norma Baker, of Los Angeles, made the gift to establish the Laurence H. Baker Center for Bioinformatics and Biological Statistics in honor of her late husband, a computer-systems developer and a 1954 I.S.U. graduate.

* Marion I. Knott, widow of the Baltimore real-estate developer Henry J. Knott, has given $10-million to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Mrs. Knott made the gift to endow one directorship each in oncology and in genetics.

* Fred Thomson Couper, a lawyer and investor, and his wife, Mary Frances Bowles Couper, have bequeathed their home and other gifts to Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, in Houston.

The couple designated “Piney Point” — a house and 18 wooded acres — to be used as a wellness center; gifts of art and furniture have put the total value of the bequest at $10-million. The couple will continue to reside at the Houston house until their deaths. Mr. Couper is the retired principal of the Couper Company, an oil, gas, and real-estate investment business.

* Sanford Ziff, retired chairman of Sunglass Hut International, and his wife, Dolores, have donated $10-million to help construct an arts facility in downtown Miami.

The Performing Arts Center Foundation of Greater Miami is in the final stages of a $48-million campaign to secure private funds for the Ballet Opera House, which has been named in the Ziffs’ honor, and a concert hall to be located across the street.

Other recent gifts:

Centenary College of Louisiana: $7,200,000 bequest from the estates of George A. Wilson of Mansfield, La., former chairman of Lone Star Steel Company, and his wife, Lola, for the capital campaign.

Community Foundation of the Fox Valley Region (Wis.): $6,000,000 bequest from the estate of Frank C. Shattuck of Neenah, Wis., an architect, for unrestricted endowment.

Florida State U.: $7,000,000 from Robert H. Dedman of Dallas, chairman of ClubCorp, and his wife, Nancy, to endow the hospitality and professional-golf management programs at the College of Business.

Houghton College (N.Y.): $2,000,000 from an anonymous donor for unrestricted endowment.

Lighthouse of Oakland County (Mich.): $1,000,000 from Robert and Mary Flint of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., owners of Flint Ink, for the capital campaign of this social-services organization.

Miami U. (Ohio): $1,000,000 from C. Michael Armstrong of Basking Ridge, N.J., chairman of AT&T, to endow a professorship at the Richard T. Farmer School of Business.

Michigan Technological U.: $1,400,000 from John Opie of Fairfield, Conn., vice-chairman of General Electric, and his wife, Ruanne, to help construct the Center for Integrated Learning and Information Technology. The gift augments $3,600,000 that the couple donated in March.

Pennington School (N.J.): $2,100,000 bequest from the estate of Howard S. Stainton of Ocean City, N.J., who owned real estate and founded the department store Stainton’s, for endowment.

Saint John’s U. (Minn.): $2,500,000 from Bob Simons of Denver, retired director of planning and budget at the Colorado Department of Labor, and his wife, Anne, to build and renovate science facilities and to endow scholarships.

Smart Museum of Art (Ill.): $5,000,000 bequest from the estates of Paul A. Kirkley of Carol Stream, Ill., a manager at Illinois Bell, and his wife, Miriam, to establish an endowment to enhance the museum’s collections.

U. of California at Los Angeles: $5,000,000 from Peter W. Mullin of Los Angeles, a consultant on executive compensation, for faculty support and a professorship at the Anderson School of Management.

U. of Mississippi: $2,000,000 from James Barksdale of Mountain View, Cal., former president of Netscape, and his wife, Sally, for scholarships for black students at the Medical Center.

U. of South Dakota: $8,500,000 bequest from the estate of Walter A. Buhler of Delmont, S.D., an accountant, for the business school and for scholarships, with a preference for Asian students.

U. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas: $2,000,000 from Thomas B. Walker, Jr., of Dallas, retired general partner of Goldman Sachs and Company, and his wife, Anne Marie, for research on breast cancer and age-related blindness.

Webb Schools (Cal.): Charitable lead trust valued at $1,200,000 from Avery McCarthy of Gulfport, Fla., to improve foreign-language classes through technology. The Webb Schools comprise two college-preparatory schools for boys and girls in grades 9 through 12.

Yeshiva U. (N.Y.): $1,200,000 from E. Billi Ivry of New York, a professor of Jewish studies at the university, for a professorship in Jewish history at Stern College.