Jeff Bezos Gives $100 Million Each to Van Jones of Dream Corps and José Andrés of World Central Kitchen

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:

Courage and Civility Award

The billionaire Jeff Bezos has given two personal gifts totaling $200 million to Van Jones, a CNN political commentator and co-founder of Dream Corps, and José Andrés, a chef and founder of World Central Kitchen. The two men are the first recipients of the Courage and Civility Award, a new prize by Bezos to recognize leaders who advance a spirit of unity in their philanthropic efforts.

“They can give it all to their own charity,” Bezos said during a press conference announcing the gifts. “Or they can share the wealth. It is up to them.”

Bezos, who has an estimated net worth of $207 billion, founded the online retailer Amazon and Blue Origin, an aerospace and space-tourism company.

Andrés has said he will use the gift toward his efforts to end world hunger. Neither recipient has yet announced how much of a share of their unrestricted $100 million gifts their organizations will receive. Dream Corps works to end systemic racism by creating job opportunities in technology, green energy, and elsewhere for formerly incarcerated people and racial and ethnic minorities. World Central Kitchen provides free meals for people in need after natural disasters and other crises.

Highlands College

David Green and his family donated $20 million to build a residence hall at this Christian college in Birmingham, Ala. The two-year private college was founded in 2011 to focus exclusively on Christian ministry and trains its students to serve in churches and ministry organizations worldwide.

Green is the billionaire founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby, a chain of craft-supply retailers, and the author of the 2017 book Giving It All Away and Getting It All Back Again: the Way of Living Generously. The Green family gives primarily to evangelical causes.

Elon University

Two brothers have given $10 million to the university in North Carolina to rename its school of education after their mother. The gift comes from Randall Williams and his wife, Elizabeth, and William (Lee) Williams III and his wife, Beth, through their foundation.

Jo Watts Williams, who is 92, graduated from Elon in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She worked for 14 years as a public-school teacher in North Carolina and returned to work for the university as a professor in the Department of Psychology and Education. In 1977, she was promoted to associate dean of academic affairs and director of the Learning Resources Center before becoming its first vice president for development in 1979. She retired in 2010.

Randall Williams is an obstetrician and gynecologist who served as the director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services from 2017 until earlier this year. Lee Williams is the co-founder and vice chairman of Live Oak Bank, in Wilmington, N.C.

Eastern Kentucky University

Karen Ann Hawkins left $2.5 million to her alma mater for student aid. The university said it was unaware of her estate plans, and her bequest, the largest gift in university history, came as a surprise after her death in November at age 75.

Hawkins, who lived in Lawrenceburg, Ky., for her entire life, graduated from the university in 1968. She retired as a program analyst for Medical Assistance for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

University of West Georgia

Joseph (Harrison) McCraw Jr. has given $1 million to create an endowment at the Richards College of Business that will support the Department of Accounting and Finance, where he taught for 26 years. The gift will endow three separate funds that will support professors, faculty and departmental needs, and scholarships for accounting students.

McCraw joined the university’s faculty in 1985 as an assistant professor of business administration. He retired in 2011 as professor emeritus.

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