Gifts Roundup: UCLA Lands 2 Big Donations Totaling $27.4 Million

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:

University of California at Los Angeles

Jordan and Christine Kaplan, and Ken Panzer gave $25 million, of which $20 million will support the philosophy department and $5 million will endow financial support for graduate students in the humanities.

Jordan Kaplan is president and chief executive of Douglas Emmett, a real-estate firm in Santa Monica, Calif. Panzer is chief operating officer of the company.

The three donors gave the money to honor of Jordan Kaplan’s parents, David and Renée Kaplan, who were philosophy and psychology professors, respectively. They taught at UCLA for nearly 60 years. The humanities building will be named Renée and David Kaplan Hall.

In addition, Stewart and Lynda Resnick donated nearly $2.4 million to support the UCLA School of Law’s research and education programs at the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy. They helped establish the center with a $4 million grant from their foundation in 2013.

The Resnicks own the Wonderful Company, an umbrella company for Fiji Water; POM Wonderful — which grows pomegranates and manufactures juice — and other businesses. The couple have appeared on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors twice since 2008

Norton Museum of Art

Financier Kenneth Griffin pledged $20 million through his Kenneth C. Griffin Charitable Fund. Of the total, $16 million will go toward the construction of a new wing designed by the architect Norman Foster. The remaining $4 million will endow the museum director’s post.

Griffin founded Citadel Investment Group, a hedge fund in Chicago. He appeared on the 2014 Philanthropy 50 for a $150 million donation to Harvard, his alma mater.

University of Alabama

James and Marillyn Hewson donated $15 million to support to support the Culverhouse College of Business.

Marillyn Hewson leads the Lockheed Martin Corporation. She earned two degrees from the university: a bachelor’s in business administration and a master’s in economics. James Hewson, also an alum, earned a bachelor’s degree in communications there.

The couple met as students there. In 2017, they gave the university $5 million for the Marillyn Hewson Faculty Fellows Program in Data Analytics and Cyber Security, a high-tech data-analytics and cybersecurity lab, and to endow an undergraduate scholarship and a graduate assistantship.

California Institute of Technology

Brad Jones pledged $5 million to endow the G. Bradford Jones Professorship, which Caltech’s president and provost initially will use to support or recruit a top environmental scientist or engineer.

His pledge will launch two fellowships that will support graduate students in any discipline. Jones co-founded Redpoint, a venture-capital firm with headquarters in the Bay Area. He is not a Caltech alumnus but serves on university’s Board of Trustees.

University of Wyoming

David Le Norman gave $2.5 million gift to back engineering, energy, and STEM programs. State officials plan to match the gift with an additional $2.5 million from the state.

The gift will create the Le Norman Endowed Leadership Chair in Petroleum Engineering for the head of the Department of Petroleum Engineering in the UW College of Engineering and Applied Science. It will also establish the Le Norman Family Excellence Fund in Petroleum Engineering.

Le Norman worked for Texaco earlier in his career and went on to found Le Norman Energy and other companies. He earned a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from the university.

New Hampshire Institute of Art

Stephen Lis left $1.4 million to endow student scholarships for New Hampshire residents pursuing a bachelor of fine arts degree at the college.

The college will begin awarding the scholarships in 2019, and officials there expect the endowment will support eight to 10 students annually.

Lis founded Lis-Fix, a home-repair company in Manchester, N.H. He collected art and backed emerging artists and master furniture craftsmen. He died in 2016.

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