College Gets $ 37-Million; Other Gifts

Four universities and two other nonprofit organizations have received large gifts:

• City University of New York’s Bernard M. Baruch College has received three big donations to its capital campaign. William Newman, a 1947 graduate and real-estate executive, and his wife, Anita, gave $25-million for unrestricted support. Lawrence N. Field, a 1952 graduate and a real-estate developer and businessman, and his wife, Eris, gave $10-million to renovate the college’s original classroom building, as well as $2-million to endow a chair in entrepreneurship. The college also received a $10-million unrestricted bequest from an anonymous donor.
• Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston, has received a $35-million pledge from Dan L. Duncan, a member of its Board of Trustees, to construct an outpatient clinic. Mr. Duncan is a founder of Enterprise Partners, an energy company in Houston.
• Daniel M. Meyers has given $20-million to the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, for its Curry School of Education. Mr. Meyers is co-founder and chief executive officer of First Marblehead Corporation, a Boston company that offers marketing and other services to student-loan providers.
• The Rhode Island Foundation, in Providence, has received a $17-million bequest from Ruth L. Kilton, of Warwick, R.I., for an endowment to benefit children, elderly people, and animals in the state. Mrs. Kilton, who died this year at age 96, worked at Amica Insurance, in Littleton, R.I., and at the U.S. Gutta Percha Paint Company, in Providence.
• The Brooklyn Academy of Music, in New York, has received $10-million from Richard B. and Jeanne Donovan Fisher, for its endowment. Mr. Fisher is chairman emeritus of Morgan Stanley and Ms. Fisher is head of True Love Productions, a theater- and film-production company in New York.
• David M. Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group, in Washington, has given $10-million to Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass. Although the majority of the donation is unrestricted, $1-million is earmarked for a loan-forgiveness program for students pursuing public-service careers.

Other recent gifts:

Boston U.: $5-million challenge gift from Alan and Sherry Leventhal for a discretionary fund. Mr. Leventhal is chairman of Beacon Capital Partners, in Boston, and chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees.

Delta Zeta Foundation (Oxford, Ohio): $1-million from the estate of Gail Patrick Velde to provide scholarships and honoraria to members of the sorority. Ms. Velde, who died in 1980, was an actress and a former vice-president of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Loyola High School of Los Angeles: $1-million from Tom Girardi, a 1957 graduate, to expand and improve the school’s facilities. Mr. Girardi is the co-founder of the law firm of Girardi and Keese, in Los Angeles.

Mount Olive College (N.C.): $5-million from an anonymous donor to create a scholarship fund as part of the college’s capital campaign.

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego: $3-million from David C. Copley, of San Diego, to expand the museum. Mr. Copley is chairman and president of the Copley Press, in La Jolla, Calif., which publishes 18 newspapers.

Rowan U. (Glassboro, N.J.): $1-million from Thomas N. Bantivoglio, of Haddonfield, N.J., for the honors program. Mr. Bantivoglio is a lawyer.

Southwestern Medical Foundation (Dallas): $1-million bequest from Josephine Long Biddle, of Dallas, to establish two chairs in age-related macular-degeneration research at the U. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and $1-million from Jean and Tom Walter, of Dallas, to endow a chair in internal medicine at the medical center. Mr. Walter is a former vice president of Electronic Data Systems.

U. of Cincinnati: $1-million from Lois and Richard Rosenthal to endow the Center for Law and Justice.

U. of North Texas (Denton): $3-million bequest from Mary Beth Baird for the department of biological sciences, and a $1.2-million unrestricted bequest from the joint estate of Mrs. Baird and her husband, Mellon C. Baird, of Austin, Tex. Mr. Baird was the former chairman of Delfin Systems, a technology company, and both he and his wife were graduates of the university.

U. of Oregon (Eugene): $2.5-million from Dave and Nancy Petrone for scholarships, facilities, an endowed library position, and sports marketing. Mr. Petrone, a 1966 graduate of the university, is chairman of Housing Capital Company, in San Mateo, Calif.

U. of South Carolina (Columbia): $5-million from Donald W. Beam, of Fernandina Beach, Fla., for its College of Pharmacy. Mr. Beam, a 1979 graduate of the college, owns 25 pharmacies in Florida and North and South Carolina.

Virginia Tech (Blacksburg): $1.48-million from T. Marshall Hahn, a former president of the university, and his wife, Peggy, to expand the university’s horticulture garden. The gift comprises a $1-million estate gift and $475,000 in start-up support.

Washington & Jefferson College (Washington, Pa.): $3.5-million from Violet Bica Ross for its capital campaign. Mrs. Bica Ross is a retired teacher, and her husband founded the L. Clayton Ross Company, in Ohio.