Foundation in Oregon Receives $70-Million Bequest; Other Gifts

Five nonprofit organizations have received large gifts or pledges:

• The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, in Portland, Ore., has announced a $70-million bequest from its founder, James F. Miller, former president of Blyth & Co., an investment company that was bought by Paine Webber. The gift will support the foundation’s grant making, which primarily focuses on education and the arts in Oregon. Mr. Miller died on June 3 at age 99.
• Brown University, in Providence, R.I., has received $20-million from Sidney Frank, of New Rochelle, N.Y., the founder and chairman of Sidney Frank Importing Co., in New York, to construct an academic building.
• Williams College, in Williamstown, Mass., has received a $15.75-million pledge from an anonymous donor for its capital campaign. The donor, who is an alumnus, has requested that the student center be named Baxter Hall, in honor of James Phinney Baxter III, who served as the college’s president from 1937 to 1961.
• The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, in Charlottesville, Va., has received $15-million from Clarice Smith, an artist, and her husband, Robert H. Smith, chairman of Charles E. Smith Commercial Realty, in Arlington, Va., to endow the International Center for Jefferson Studies. The center oversees scholarly activities and educational programs at Monticello, Jefferson’s home and burial place.
• John Carroll University, in Cleveland, has received $10-million from Helen Schilling and her husband, Frank, a 1935 graduate of the university and a retired vice president at General Electric, to endow a scholarship fund.

Other recent gifts:

All Saints’ Episcopal School of Fort Worth: $1.5-million from Brad Corbett Sr., owner and chief executive officer of S&B Technical Products/Hultec Group (Fort Worth), and $1-million from Louella Martin and her husband, Nicholas, president of Martin Land and Investments (Fort Worth), for the capital campaign.

Coast Guard Academy (New London, Conn.): $2.5-million from James S. Tyler Jr., retired president and chief executive officer of Optivision (Palo Alto, Calif.), and his wife, Karen, to endow a chair in leadership. Mr. Tyler attended the academy from 1954 to 1957.

College of Charleston (S.C.): $1.5-million from Marion Rivers Cato and her husband, Wayland Henry Cato Jr., retired chairman and chief executive officer of the Cato Corporation (Charlotte, N.C.) and a member of the College of Charleston Foundation’s Board of Directors, for a new arts center.

Lawrence Technological U. (Southfield, Mich.): $4-million from A. Alfred Taubman, a former student at the university and founder of the Taubman Company (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), to build a student-services center.

Lincoln Memorial U. (Harrogate, Tenn.): $1.5-million from the estate of Paul F. Dishner, a doctor in Costa Mesa, Calif., and a clinical professor of medicine at the U. of California at Irvine’s School of Medicine, to endow student scholarships, build a residence hall, and construct a science facility. Mr. Dishner was born in Duffield, Va., received his medical degree from the U. of Tennesee at Knoxville, and died last year.

Macalester College (St. Paul): $5.8-million bequest from George and Wilma Fox Leonard, both 1927 graduates of the college, for an endowed athletic-department fund, an endowed scholarship fund, and general endowment. Mr. Leonard, who died in 1991 at age 87, served as executive vice president of Wunderlich Construction (Joliet, Ill.) until his retirement in 1959. His wife died in February at age 99. The college also received a $1.6-million bequest from Dorothy R. Dodge, to provide scholarships for women majoring in political or social science. Ms. Dodge, who was a professor of political science at the college from 1955 to 1996, died last year at age 76.

Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute (Tampa): $5-million from Erika Wallace and her husband, Don, president and chief executive officer of Lazydays RV Super-Center (Tampa), for the breast-cancer program. (This clarifies an item that appeared in the May 27 issue.)

Montreat Conference Center (N.C.): $1-million from Nancy Ball Lake and her husband, J. Gilmour Lake, president of Computer Credit (Winston-Salem, N.C.), for endowment.

State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (Richmond): $1-million from John Kluge, founder of the Metromedia Company (East Rutherford, N.J.), for the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program and Fund. The gift will match $1-million that Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner will request from the state’s General Assembly.

Tennessee Wesleyan College (Athens): $1.5-million from the estate of Paul Dishner, a doctor in Costa Mesa, Calif., and a clinical professor of medicine at the U. of California at Irvine’s School of Medicine, for capital improvements and unrestricted use. Mr. Dishner was born in Duffield, Va., received his medical degree from U. of Tennessee at Knoxville, and died last year.

U. of North Texas (Denton): $1.5-million from Paul Voertman, former owner of Voertman’s, a bookstore in Denton, to install a new concert organ at the College of Music. Mr. Voertman attended the university from 1945 to 1947.

Westmont College (Santa Barbara, Calif.): $3-million bequest from Peggy Monroe and her husband, Kenneth, who was a faculty member and administrator at the college, to endow a scholarship fund and a faculty position. Mr. Monroe died in 1987 and his wife died in February.

Yale School of Management (New Haven, Conn.): $1.6-million from Andrew Redleaf and his company, Whitebox Advisors (Minneapolis), for the International Center for Finance’s research in behavioral finance.