Cancer Institute in Utah Wins $125-Million; Other Big Gifts

Four organizations have received big gifts.

* Jon M. Huntsman, chairman of the chemical company Huntsman Corporation, in Salt Lake City, has announced that he will give $125-million to enhance a cancer institute he established at the University of Utah with a $100-million donation in 1995.

Mr. Huntsman earmarked $100-million of the new gift to build the Huntsman Cancer Institute Clinical Research Hospital, which will house 55 inpatient bedrooms and six operating rooms.

The remaining $25-million is designated for cancer-care programs run jointly by the institute and Intermountain Health Care, in Salt Lake City.

Mr. Huntsman survived bouts with prostate cancer in 1992 and with mouth cancer in 1993.

* Lulu Wang, founder of Tupelo Capital Management, in New York, and her husband, Anthony Wang, have given $25-million to Wellesley College, in Massachusetts.

Ms. Wang graduated from Wellesley in 1966. Mr. Wang retired in 1992 as president of Computer Associates International, a software company. The couple earmarked the gift for the design and construction of a new campus center.

* Richard Rogel of Avon, Colo., a retired health-insurance executive, and his wife, Susan, have donated $22-million to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor to provide scholarships to undergraduate students who are not Michigan residents.

Mr. Rogel, a 1970 alumnus, sold his company, Preferred Provider Organization of Michigan, to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan in 1996.

* A Springdale, Ark., man has given $14-million to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, in Little Rock, to construct a health-care facility for elderly people.

Lawrence H. Schmieding, president of the produce company Schmieding Enterprises, pledged the amount to be paid over 20 years. The Center for Senior Health and Education is scheduled to open in Springdale next year.

Other recent gifts:

American Rivers (D.C.): $1,250,000 from Stephen E. Ambrose of Bay St. Louis, Miss., an author and historian, for the campaign to restore rivers traveled by the explorers Lewis and Clark.

Greater Des Moines Community Foundation: $2,100,000 from Donald Lamberti of Des Moines, the chairman of Casey’s General Stores, and his wife, Charlene, to establish a 100-bed drug-treatment facility for nonviolent felons.

Intiman Theatre Foundation (Wash.): $1,000,000 from Ida S. Cole of Seattle, former director of international products and marketing at Microsoft and founding director of Seattle Theatre Group, for endowment and general operations.

Iowa State U.: $8,000,000 from Steve and Becky Smith of Dallas, founder of Sales Insights, and Dell strategic alliance executive at I.B.M., respectively, to endow the College of Business.

Mount Carmel High School (Ill.): $1,000,000 from Paul M. McCarthy of Chicago, chairman of Marquette National Bankcorp, to endow this Roman Catholic school for boys on the south side of Chicago.

Northern Kentucky U.: $1,000,000 bequest from the estate of James E. (Duke) Sehnert of Highland Heights, Ky., a mathematics professor at the university, to endow the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.

Northwestern U. (Ill.): $7,000,000 from Neil Bluhm of Chicago, president of JMB Realty Corporation, for the Law School.

Puget Sound Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology (Wash.): Stock valued at $3,000,000 from John Morgridge of San Jose, Calif., former chief executive officer of Cisco Systems, for endowment.

Rochester Institute of Technology (N.Y.): $2,500,000 from Joseph F. Heller of Delray Beach, Fla., a retired engineer, and his wife, Helen, to establish an arts center at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

Rollins College (Fla.): $1,000,000 from Wynee Martin Warden of Winter Park, Fla., a former ballet dancer, to establish a professorship in the department of theatre arts and dance.

Saint John’s Health Center (Calif.): $1,000,000 from Abbott Brown of Los Angeles, senior vice president of Global Crossing, and his wife, Linda, for capital needs.

St. Lawrence U. (N.Y.): $1,000,000 from John B. Johnson Sr. of Watertown, N.Y., editor and publisher of the Watertown Daily Times, for unrestricted use.

U. of Arkansas: $1,500,000 charitable remainder unitrust from Ellen Roper of Washington, a retired producer for the Washington bureau of CBS News, to endow the English department.

U. of Connecticut: $1,000,000 from Nafe Katter of Manchester, Conn., an actor and professor emeritus of dramatic arts, to build a stage for the theater department.