Gifts Roundup: Sesame Workshop and Gun-Violence Research Each Get $20 Million

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by The Chronicle:

Sesame Workshop

Peter Peterson gave $20 million to establish the Joan Ganz Cooney Fund for Vulnerable Children, which will help the organization expand its Sesame Street in Communities program. The fund is named for his wife, Joan Ganz Cooney, who founded Sesame Street.

The gift, made before Peterson’s death in March, consists of $10 million upfront, plus an additional $10 million challenge grant.

The effort is aimed at assisting community service providers, parents, and caregivers of disadvantaged and other children with early educational, emotional, and physical development efforts.

Peterson was a financier who co-founded the private equity firm Blackstone and served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 1972 to 1973. He died in March.

National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research

John and Laura Arnold donated $20 million through their foundation to start the nonprofit, a five-year research program on gun-related violence. The program will be overseen by the RAND Corporation, a think tank, which will disseminate the research findings.

John Arnold is the retired founder of Centaurus Energy, a hedge fund, and Laura Arnold is a former corporate lawyer. Together they run their $2 billion Laura and John Arnold Foundation.

They have appeared on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the most generous donors seven times.

American Society of the University of Haifa

Lorry Lokey gave $10 million for the construction of a new campus that will consist of at least four buildings located throughout the Port of Haifa, in Israel, and in Haifa’s downtown area.

Lokey founded Business Wire, a news-wire service. He is a prolific philanthropist. He has given nearly $800 million to schools and colleges in the United States and Israel and has appeared on the Philanthropy 50 eight times.

University of California at Los Angeles School of Law

Dan and Rae Emmett pledged $4.3 million through their foundation for the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, which the couple helped establish with a previous gift in 2008.

Dan Emmett is chairman of Douglas Emmett, a real-estate company he founded.

This latest donation includes $1.8 million outright, with the couple matching a total of $2.5 million more in gifts from other donors. The money will back policy programs, research and advocacy work, and support for students and graduates.

Emily Krzyzewski Center

Mike and Carol “Mickie” Krzyzewski committed $3 million toward the nonprofit’s efforts to enhance its educational programs, endow the organization, and build a new addition to the facility.

Mike Krzyzewski is men’s basketball head coach at Duke University. He founded the Emily Krzyzewski Center, which is named for his mother, in 2006. The nonprofit offers college access, information, and advising programs to low-income students in the Durham, N.C., area.

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

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly indicated that Peter Peterson’s gift was a bequest; instead, he made the gift before his death. Also, the article now clarifies that the donation consisted of two parts, an initial $10 million grant plus a $10 million challenge grant.