Donor Chemistry: An $84 Million Gift to UPenn Sciences

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:

University of Pennsylvania

Diana and Roy Vagelos pledged $83.9 million to back science programs in the School of Arts & Sciences. The couple are directing $50 million to the department of chemistry to establish 20 new graduate fellowships. The gift will also create an endowment for the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology. Additionally, the gift will endow a chair in chemistry and support other programs.

Roy Vagelos is a retired chairman and chief executive officer of the pharmaceuticals giant Merck & Company and a retired chairman of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the university in 1950 before going on to earn a medical degree from Columbia University.

The couple are longtime donors to higher education, medicine, and science. Including their latest donation, the couple have given the university’s School of Arts & Sciences a total of $239 million. They have appeared on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors four times since 2010.

Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh

Carole and Daniel Kamin gave $65 million to endow the Carnegie Science Center, which will be renamed the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Science Center. Daniel Kamin leads Kamen Realty Management, a commercial real-estate firm in Pittsburgh that was founded by his grandfather Herman Kamin in 1916.

The science center holds a special place in his memories. He said in a news release that the center — then called the Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science — was an important part of his childhood. He visited the center often in his youth and vividly remembers building a small working telescope during one of his visits there, which he still has.

University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business

Billy and Rozanne Rosenthal gave $25 million to support the department of management, which will be named for them. The money will help the department expand research and other programs.

Billy Rosenthal is a retired president of Standard Meat Company, a Fort Worth meat processing and packing business his grandfather Ben Rosenthal founded in 1935. Billy Rosenthal started working for his family’s company in 1964 when he was 14, and became president in 1981. He graduated from the university in 1972.

Rozanne Rosenthal, who graduated from the university in 1974, founded the Fort Worth affiliate of Susan G. Komen to honor her best friend and University of Texas roommate Joan Katz, a four-time breast cancer survivor.

City University of New York Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism

Craig Newmark gave $10 million through his Craig Newmark Philanthropies to endow financial aid. The gift will pay full tuition for half the class starting in August 2025, and school officials plan to to raise an additional $30 million from other donors by the end of 2026 to provide free tuition in perpetuity to its entire student body.

Newmark founded the classified-advertising website Craigslist. He has devoted huge sums to charity in recent years, appearing on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors four times since 2018. He has focused much of his giving on election integrity, journalism ethics, security, and cybersecurity, as well as helping veterans and their families. He donated $20 million in 2018 to establish the journalism school.

Dickinson College

Sam Rose pledged $10 million to match donations from other donors to support scholarships. Rose is an attorney and founding partner of Greenbaum and Rose Associates, a commercial real-estate development firm in the Washington area. He graduated from the college in 1958.

To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated regularly.