High Point U. Receives $15-Million Donation From Furniture Executive; Other New Gifts

Four institutions have received big gifts:

• High Point University, in North Carolina, has received an unrestricted gift of $15-million from David R. Hayworth, former chief executive officer of Alma Desk Company, an office-furniture manufacturer in High Point. The gift will help build new facilities, endow scholarships, and support academic and student-life programs. Mr. Hayworth and his brother, Charles, who died in 1994, had previously given about $10-million to the university.
• The Naples Museum of Art, in Florida, has received a pledge of $10-million from Jay Baker, retired president of the Kohl’s Corporation, the retail chain, in Menomonee Falls, Wis., and his wife, Patty, to support its endowment. Mr. Baker is a member of the Board of Trustees.
• North Georgia College & State University, in Dahlonega, has received a pledge of $10-million from Mike Cottrell, owner of Cottrell Incorporated, a company that manufactures automobile-transport equipment in Gainesville, Ga., and his wife, Lynn, to support the School of Business and Government. Part of the gift will help establish the Center for the Future of North Georgia, which will study economic development and entrepreneurship in the region.
• Touro College, in New York, has received an unrestricted pledge of $10-million from Mark Hasten, president of Hasten Bancshares, in Indianapolis, and his wife, Anna Ruth. The institution will use the money to support its College of Women. Mr. Hasten is chairman of the college’s Board of Trustees and Board of Overseers, and the Hastens’ daughter, Monica, graduated from the College of Women in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

Other recent gifts:

Carroll College (Waukesha, Wis.): $1-million from Dennis G. Punches, president of Payback, a real-estate management company in Waukesha, to help build an outdoor track and field complex. Mr. Punches graduated rom the college in 1958 with a bachelor’s degree in biology.

Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences (Charleston, W.Va.): $5-million anonymous pledge to endow a fund to support music lessons for children and adults.

Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital: $4.6-million pledge from Nancy Calabrese, a partner at Fabec Interiors, an interior-design company in Bonita Springs, Fla., and her husband, Steve, managing partner at Calabrese Racek and Markos, a construction and real-estate company in Tampa, Fla., to endow a professorship in pediatric care, research, and education.

Cranbrook Institute of Science (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.): $7-million from Susan E. Cooper to support an anthropology hall, programs, salaries, and operations. Ms. Cooper’s father, Robert E. Flint, was the former chairman of Flint Ink, in Detroit.

Duke U. (Durham, N.C.): $5-million from the Crown family, of Chicago, to endow scholarships for needy students and athletes and support summer fellowships for undergraduates. Lester Crown is chairman of the board of the Material Service Corporation, a stone, sand, and gravel company in Chicago, and president of Henry Crown and Company, an investment firm also in Chicago. Several members of the Crown family are alumni of the university.

Elder High School (Cincinnati): $2-million from an anonymous family. Half of the money will support professional development and the school’s faculty retirement plan, and the other half will help build its new athletic complex.

Emory U. (Atlanta): $5-million from John Wieland, founder and chairman of John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, a home-building company in Atlanta, and his wife, Sue, to help build its Center for Ethics, which will comprise offices, a library, conference and seminar rooms, and a lecture hall.

Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore): $1-million from Genevieve McMillan, of Cambridge, Mass., to endow a professorship in painting. Ms. McMillan donated the gift in honor of her friend Reba Stewart, a former faculty member at the college.

St. Mary’s School (Lee, Mass.): $1.8-million bequest from Henry Donahoe, a retired lawyer in Lee, to endow scholarships and to offset tuition increases for all families of children who attend the school. Mr. Donahoe, who attended St. Mary’s, died last year at the age of 81.

Stanford Law School (Calif.): $3.8-million pledge from John P. Levin, founder and senior counsel at Folger Levin & Kahn, a law firm in San Francisco, and his wife, Terry, to establish the Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law. Mr. Levin graduated from the law school in 1973. Ms. Levin graduated from Stanford U. in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in human biology, and in 1981 received a master’s degree in physical therapy there.

Swedish Covenant Hospital (Chicago): $4-million from the Yelda family of Chicago to endow capital and program needs. The gift came from Sam Yelda, a retired orthopedic surgeon who worked at the hospital, along with his wife, Beth; his sister, Flora; and his mother, Jeannette.

U. of California at Los Angeles, School of Law: $5-million from David J. Epstein, founder of the Unclaimed Property Clearinghouse, a Boston company that audits businesses for unclaimed money, to endow a program in public-interest law and policy and provide scholarships in educational law and policy. Mr. Epstein graduated from the law school in 1964.

Xavier U. (Cincinnati): $3-million from Tom Sedler, retired chief executive officer of Home City Ice, in Cincinnati, and his wife, Genny, to support the College of Business’s Center for Entrepreneurship. Mr. Sedler graduated from the university in 1958 with a bachelor’s degree in general business.

— Compiled by Anne W. Howard