Israeli University to Get $100-Million for Engineering Institute; Other Gifts

Eight institutions have received large gifts or pledges:

• The American Technion Society, in New York, has received a $100-million pledge from Alfred E. Mann, chairman of Advanced Bionics Corporation, in Sylmar, Calif., to establish a biomedical-engineering institute at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa. No schedule has been set for when the funds will be transmitted to the university.
• Oklahoma Christian University, in Oklahoma City, has received an unrestricted gift of stock valued at approximately $30-million from H. Richard and Pat Lawson, of Dallas. Mr. Lawson is co-founder and chairman of Lawson Software, in St. Paul, and graduated from the university in 1966 with a degree in computer science. Ms. Lawson has also worked at Lawson Software and earned a degree in elementary education from the university in 1967.
• Saint Meinrad Archabbey and School of Theology, in St. Meinrad, Ind., has received approximately $27-million in bequests from Virginia Basso and Bernice and William Davey. Ms. Basso, whose husband, Raymond, was an employee of Eli Lilly and Company, in Indianapolis, bequeathed an estimated $13-million, $4-million of which was designated for construction of a guest house and retreat center. The remainder will be disbursed over the next 10 years. Ms. Davey and her husband, who was an insurance agent in Indianapolis, established two trusts for the school of theology, which will in part support its endowment. Ms. Basso died in July 2003 at age 91 and Ms. Davey died in January at age 90. Mr. Davey died in 1982.
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston has received a $25-million pledge from an anonymous donor to support stem-cell research at the Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases. The gift is scheduled to be paid out over 10 years.
• The Community Foundation of Sarasota County, in Sarasota, Fla., has received a $16-million bequest from Jo Bowen Nobbe, who died in January at age 92, to endow a fund for scholarships and educational programs. Mrs. Nobbe was married to the late Allen Wirtz Nobbe, a lawyer in Washington.
• Emory & Henry College, in Emory, Va., has received a $10-million bequest from Anna Bryant Thompson, who owned a dress shop in Richmond, Va., for a scholarship fund. Ms. Thompson, whose father attended the college, died in November 2003 at age 98.
• The Southwestern Medical Foundation, in Dallas, has received $10-million from Sarah Seay and her husband, Charles, founder of Charles E. Seay Investments, in Dallas, to support three institutions that provide medical care to children. The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas will receive $6-million for a center for pediatric emergency and intensive care. Children’s Medical Center Dallas will receive $2-million for its capital campaign and hospital expansion. Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, also in Dallas, will receive $2-million to create a center for pediatric upper-limb care.
• The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, in Minneapolis, has received $10-million from Herbert M. Hanson Jr., founder of Hanson Investment Management Company, in San Francisco, and his wife, Barbara. The gift will be used to construct a center at the Carlson School of Management that will enable the school to expand its undergraduate program. Mr. Hanson graduated from the university in 1949 with a degree in economics.

Other recent gifts:

Berry College (Mount Berry, Ga.): $1-million from Michele Irwin Griswell and her husband, J. Barry, chairman and chief executive officer of the Principal Financial Group, in Des Moines, to endow a scholarship fund and support the capital campaign. Mr. Griswell graduated from the college in 1971 and his wife graduated in 1970.

Brown U. (Providence, R.I.): $5.5-million from Charles M. Royce, president of the Royce Funds (New York) and a 1961 graduate of the university, to endow professorships; $2-million from an anonymous donor for unrestricted support and an endowed scholarship fund; $1.5-million from an anonymous donor for endowed undergraduate scholarships and for the annual fund; $1-million from an anonymous donor for the library and its endowment; $1-million from an anonymous donor for the Creative Arts Fund, the campus chapter of Hillel, and the provost’s discretionary fund; $1-million from an anonymous donor for the humanities center’s endowment; and $1-million from an anonymous donor for faculty support.

George Mason U. (Fairfax, Va.): $2.5-million pledge from an anonymous donor to endow a faculty chair and create a center on conflict resolution, diplomacy, and world religions; $1-million pledge from an anonymous donor for a faculty chair in economics; $1-million bequest from Daphonal T. Bell, to endow a scholarship in honor of her late husband, Samuel, founder of the S.J. Bell Construction Company (Alexandria, Va.); and a $1-million pledge from Nancy de Laski and her husband, Donald, retired chairman of Deltek Systems (Herndon, Va.), for dance and music facilities.

Hollins U. (Va.): $1-million pledge from Wyndham Robertson, a former assistant managing editor at Fortune (New York) and former vice president for communications at the U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to endow a chair in the humanities.

Johns Hopkins U. (Baltimore): $1-million from an anonymous donor for the prostate-cancer research fund at Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Urological Institute.

John F. Kennedy Library Foundation (Boston): $1-million from Philip Knight, founder and chief executive officer of Nike (Beaverton, Ore.), for the Profile in Courage Award program.

Lane Community College (Eugene, Ore.): $1-million from an anonymous donor to endow a professorship.

Loyola High School of Los Angeles: $2-million from Frances Ardolf and her husband, Francis, co-founder of Ardolf Drazan Investments (Los Angeles), for an academic building.

Munroe Foundation (Ocala, Fla.): $1-million gift from Mary and Larry Roberts, of Ocala, owners of R&L Carriers, in Wilmington, Ohio, to support patient care. The foundation is the fund-raising arm of Munroe Regional Medical Center, in Ocala.

Saint Mary’s College (Notre Dame, Ind.): $6-million pledge from Jennifer Mathile Prikkel, a 1995 graduate of the college, and her parents, Clayton and MaryAnn Mathile, former owners of the Iams Company (Dayton, Ohio), to construct an academic building. Ms. Prikkel pledged $3-million, as did her parents, who will match up to $3-million in additional funds raised by the college.

U. of California at Los Angeles: $5-million from the family of Sharalyn King Staglin, operator of the Staglin Family Vineyard, in Napa Valley, and her husband, Garen, president and chief executive officer of eOne Global (Napa, Calif.), to create and endow a research center on mental illness.

U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: $1.2-million from Miriam McFadden, a retired administrator at the Ded Wallace Mental Health Center (Nashville), to recruit and retain faculty members at the School of Social Work, which Ms. McFadden attended.

U. of North Carolina at Charlotte: $1-million pledge from Wayland Cato Jr., retired chairman and chief executive officer of the Cato Corporation (Charlotte, N.C.) and former member of the UNC-Charlotte Foundation Board, to endow a fellowship for doctoral students.

U. of Rhode Island (Kingston): $1-million pledge from Richard Beaupre, founder and chief executive officer of ChemArt (Lincoln, R.I.) and a 1962 graduate of the university, for an endowed fund that supports students in the College of Arts and Sciences.

U. of Wisconsin at Madison: $7-million bequest from Frederick W. Miller, former president and publisher of The Capital Times, to endow a deanship at the Law School. Mr. Miller, who died in December 2003 at age 91, graduated from the law school in 1936.