Colgate U. Receives $35-Million; Other Gifts

Three nonprofit institutions have received large gifts and pledges:

• Colgate University, in Hamilton, N.Y., has received two pledges totaling $35-million. Robert H.N. Ho, chairman of Kyard Limited, in Hong Kong, and a 1956 graduate of the university, has pledged $25-million for a science building. Daniel Benton, chairman and chief executive officer of Andor Capital Management, in New York, and a 1980 graduate, pledged $10-million for the university’s endowment.
• Chapman University, in Orange, Calif., has received $20-million from Larry and Kristina Dodge for the School of Film and Television. Mr. Dodge is founding chairman and chief executive officer of American Sterling Corporation, in Irvine, Calif., whose operations include film production, financial services, real estate, and technology enterprises. Ms.Dodge serves as vice president of the corporation.
• The Walker Art Center, in Minneapolis, has received $10-million from Nadine McGuire, and her husband, William, chairman and chief executive officer of UnitedHealth Group, in Minneapolis, for a new theater, new curatorial positions, and new works. Ms. McGuire serves on the museum’s Board of Directors.

Other recent gifts:

Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Dallas): $10-million from Nancy Hamon, wife of the late Jake Hamon, founder of Hamon Oil Company (Dallas), to help construct a new building for the school.

Church Divinity School of the Pacific (Berkeley, Calif.): $1-million pledge from an anonymous donor for building renovations.

Coastal Carolina U. (Conway, S.C.): $1-million from Julia and William L. Spadoni; their daughter, Brenda Spadoni Urquhart; and her husband, Gary Urquhart, for the College of Education. Mr. Spadoni owns Better Brands Incorporated (Myrtle Beach, S.C.).

Electronic Frontier Foundation (San Francisco): $1.2-million bequest from Leonard Zubkoff, chief technical officer at VA Software Corporation (Fremont, Calif.), to establish the Endowment Fund for Digital Civil Liberties. Mr. Zubkoff died in August 2002.

Morehouse College (Atlanta): $5-million from the talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, of Chicago, for an endowed scholarship fund.

Reed College (Portland, Ore.): $2-million pledge from Sue Cooley, of Portland, for a scholarship fund. Ms. Cooley’s late husband, Edward, was a member of the college’s Board of Trustees and owner and president of Hillsboro Aviation (Ore.).

Saint John’s U. (Collegeville, Minn.): $2-million pledge from Jim and Mary White Frey, directors of the Frey Foundation (Grand Rapids, Mich.), to endow a joint professorship to be shared with the College of Saint Benedict (St. Joseph, Minn.) and to support academic programs. Mr. Frey, who also serves as president of Wabash Management (Edina, Minn.), graduated from St. John’s in 1978, and his wife graduated from the College of Saint Benedict in 1980.

Salem Academy and College (Winston-Salem, N.C.): $1,415,000 from Leslie Blixt and her husband, Charles, a lawyer in Winston-Salem, for athletics. The couple’s two daughters attended Salem.

U. of Hawaii at Hilo: $2.4-million cash gift from Kay and Alec Keith, of Hilo, to endow a scholarship fund for graduates of Hawaii and Pacific Island high schools. Mr. Keith is the founder of Watson Pharmaceuticals (Corona, Calif.).

U. of Michigan (Ann Arbor): $5-million from Joan Weill and her husband, Sanford, chairman of Citigroup (New York), to construct a new building for the School of Public Policy.

U. of North Texas (Denton): $1-million from Jim McIngvale, owner of Gallery Furniture (Houston), to construct an athletic center.

U. of South Alabama (Mobile): Pledge of real estate valued at $3-million from Courtney Hays and her husband, Jack, a retired doctor, to endow a fund for the College of Medicine.

Warner Pacific College (Portland, Ore.): Stock valued at $1.1-million from an anonymous donor.