Computer Entrepreneur Gives $40-Million; Other Donations

Three universities and two nonprofit organizations have received large gifts:

• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, N.Y., has received an unrestricted $40-million gift from Curtis Priem, co-founder of the NVIDIA Corporation, in Santa Clara, Calif., a computer-graphics company. Mr. Priem, a 1982 graduate and a member of the university’s Board of Trustees, made the gift as part of the university’s capital campaign to raise $1-billion.
• The Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, of Appleton, Wis., has received a $16-million bequest from Donald E. and Violet Himebaugh, of Appleton. The gift will augment the Donald and Violet Himebaugh Fund, an endowment that benefits local nonprofit groups. Mrs. Himebaugh, a retired educator, and her husband, a retired accountant, both died this year.
• Donald and Susan Sturm, owners of the American National Bank, in Denver, have made a $20-million unrestricted gift to the University of Denver’s College of Law. Mr. Sturm is a 1958 graduate of the law school.
• The Institute of International Education, in New York, has received $10-million from Henry Kaufman, a financial consultant, for its Scholar Rescue Fund, which helps scholars who have been subjected to attacks and persecution in their home countries. Mr. Kaufman, of New York, is the founder of an economic- and financial-consulting firm that bears his name.
• Thomas J. Petters, chairman of Petters Group Worldwide, in Minnetonka, Minn., has donated $10-million to Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio. The gift, to the business school, will establish the John T. Petters Center for Leadership, Ethics, and Skills Development.

Other recent gifts:

Augustana College (Rock Island, Ill.): $1-million bequest from Stuart Lee Harbour, of Fairfax, Va., to endow a chair in economics. Mr. Harbour, a graduate of the college, worked at the Small Business Administration and died in 2002.

Beloit College (Wis.): $2.54-million bequest from Richard Nystrom, of Pacific Palisades, Calif., to establish a professorship in the fine arts. Mr. Nystrom, who died in 2003, was an architect and teacher and a graduate of the college.

Creighton U. School of Law (Omaha): $4-million from C.L. Werner, Gail Werner-Robertson, and the Werner family, of Omaha, to create an institute in alternative dispute resolution, and $1-million from George and Susan Venteicher, of Omaha, to endow a scholarship fund.

Hollins U. (Roanoke, Va.): $1.27-million from Robert and Ruby Priddy, of Wichita Falls, Tex., to restore a historic building on the campus. Mr. Priddy is the co-founder of Dual Drilling Company.

The Johns Hopkins U. (Baltimore): $2.34-million bequest from Mary Wallace Stanton, of Baltimore, to endow professorships at the school of medicine; and $2-million from Robert Hildreth, president of IBS, a financial-services firm in Boston, to endow a professorship in Latin American studies at the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.

Medical College of Georgia (Augusta): $1-million bequest from James Hovey Keels Jr. for an endowment at the Children’s Medical Center. Mr. Keels, who died in 2003, owned and operated a Walton Way gasoline station in Augusta.

Mills College (Oakland, Calif.): $4-million from Mary and Dick Holland, of Omaha, for financial aid, for summer academic programs, and to endow an existing faculty position in early childhood education. Mrs. Holland is a 1945 graduate of the college.

Roanoke College (Salem, Va.): $2.5-million from Nancy Baird Mulheren, of Rumson, N.J., a 1972 graduate and a member of the college’s Board of Trustees, for a new residence hall.

San Marino Public Library (Calif.): $1-million from an anonymous donor for its capital campaign for a new facility.

Seven Hills School (Cincinnati): $2-million from James and Elizabeth Schiff and the Robert C. and Adele R. Schiff Foundation, of Cincinnati, for efforts to expand diversity and improve financial aid, and for faculty professional development.

Texas Southern U. (Houston): $1-million from Tavis Smiley, a National Public Radio host, to construct a building for the school of communications.

U. of Connecticut (Storrs): $1-million from Nafe Katter, of Manchester, Conn., for a new performing-arts center for the Connecticut Repertory Theatre. Mr. Katter is professor emeritus of dramatic arts at the university.

U. of Georgia (Athens): $2-million bequest from Tom and Dorothy Morris, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for the College of Veterinary Medicine.

U. of Iowa (Iowa City): $5-million from W.A. and Nancy S. Krause, of West Des Moines, to renovate the university’s athletic stadium. Mr. Krause, a 1957 graduate of the university, is the co-founder and chief executive officer of the Krause Gentle Corporation, which operates convenience stores throughout the Midwest.

U. of Maryland-Eastern Shore (Princess Anne): $3-million from Richard F. Hazel, former owner of the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Salisbury, in Maryland, for scholarships for education majors, an endowed professorship, and training for education faculty members.

U. of Wisconsin at Madison: $8-million from Nancy Johnson Nicholas and her husband, Albert, of Milwaukee, to add to and remodel a building at the School of Human Ecology.