Gifts Roundup: Saint Louis University Lands a $50 Million Gift

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:

Yale University

Edward Bass gave $160 million to renovate and expand the Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Bass is chairman of Fine Line, an investment and venture-capital management firm in Fort Worth, and an heir to an oil fortune. He graduated from Yale in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in administrative science.

He tied for the No. 32 spot on the Chronicle’s 2006 Philanthropy 50 list of the top American donors for his gift to the Yale that year.

Saint Louis University

Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield donated $50 million for the new Saint Louis University Research Institute. The money will also establish the Sinquefield Center for Applied Economic Research and provide annual support to the university’s chess team.

Rex Sinquefield co-founded the investment firm Dimensional Fund Advisors. He earned bachelors’ degrees in philosophy and business from the university and serves on its Board of Trustees.

Jeanne Sinquefield earned an MBA and a doctorate in demography from the University of Chicago, and as Dimensional Fund Advisors’ executive vice president she oversaw the trading department until 2005, when both she and her husband retired from the firm.

College of William & Mary

Jane Batten gave $10 million to create a center for online learning in the Raymond A. Mason School of Business.

Batten is the widow of Frank Batten, who founded the Weather Channel in 1982 and was chairman of Landmark Communications, which included daily newspapers and specialty publications. He died in 2009.

The couple gave hundreds of millions to nonprofits and landed on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the top American donors four times.

Earlham College

Alan and Peggy Scantland pledged $3 million for a variety of programs, including academics, financial aid, student-activities, and research.

Alan Scantland is a former management consultant who co-founded CoverMyMeds, a health-care software company, with his son Matt. The couple graduated from the college in 1974, and Alan Scantland serves on the college’s Board of Trustees.

Albany Law School

Dan and Sally Nolan donated $1 million to establish the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fund, which will be used to back new legal-education programs.

Dan Nolan is president and chief executive of Hugh Johnson Advisors, and is a principal in NPV Capital, a private-equity and real-estate investment firm that he founded in 2007. He graduated from the law school in 1978.

Mother Jones Investigative Fund

Craig Newmark gave $1 million to support the nonprofit news magazine’s investigative-journalism efforts.

Newmark founded craigslist and Craig Newmark Philanthropies. Including this most recent gift, he has given $24 million to journalism efforts over the last three years.

University of Tennessee at Knoxville

Peyton Manning donated $1 million to create the John Haas Student Experiential Learning Endowment. The fund is named for longtime director and associate professor in the School of Communications Studies. Haas was one of Manning’s professors and his adviser.

Manning was the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts football team. He graduated from the university in 1997.

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