Metropolitan Museum Gets $80 Million Bequest From Jayne Wrightsman for Acquisitions (Gifts Roundup)

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:

Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York socialite and art collector Jayne Wrightsman left $80 million to the museum for the Wrightsman Fund, which pays for acquisitions of artworks from Western Europe and Great Britain created from 1500 to 1850.

A longtime museum patron and board member, Wrightsman developed a deep knowledge of French art during her lifetime and joined the museum’s Board of Trustees in 1975. Between 1975 and 1997, she served first as a member and then as chairman of the Museum’s acquisitions committee.

Wrightsman died in April at 99. She was the widow of Charles Wrightsman, an oil-company executive who died in 1986. In addition to her cash bequest, Wrightsman also bequeathed 375 artworks to the museum.

Weill Neurohub

Sanford and Joan Weill gave $106 million to establish this new research effort that will bring together neuroscientists and other researchers from across the University of California at San Francisco, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Washington.

The scientist working within the Weill Neurohub will come from a variety of disciplines including engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry, and mathematics; they will focus on speeding up the development of new treatments for diseases and disorders that affect the brain and nervous system.

Sanford Weill is a former chief executive and chairman of Citigroup, which he led for eight years. The couple are serial donors who support cancer research, the arts, education, and human services. They have appeared on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors eight times since 2001.

Bennington College

Mary Bucksbaum Scanlan gave $12 million, of which $10 million will establish the endowed Mary Bucksbaum Scanlan ’91 Visual Arts Creativity Fund to endow scholarships, fieldwork, faculty posts, exhibitions, and other efforts in the visual arts. The remaining $2 million will back other programs at the college.

Scanlan owns Woody Creek Distillers, a liquor distillery in Basalt, Colo., and is an heiress and daughter of the late Martin Bucksbaum, who co-founded General Growth Properties, which developed and built shopping malls throughout the Midwest.

Scanlan studied photography at Bennington, but earned an art-history degree from Drake University in 1991. She currently serves on Bennington’s Board of Trustees.

Rowan University

Ric and Jean Edelman gave $10 million to back scholarships for students in the College of Communication and Creative Arts.

The Edelmans founded of Edelman Financial Engines, a financial planning and investment management firm in Sunnyvale, Calif. They both graduated from Rowan, and in 2016 they gave the university $25 million for an archaeological site.

University of Missouri

Richard and Nancy Kinder donated $10 million through their Kinder Foundation to establish two new degree programs at the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy and the College of Arts and Science: a bachelor of arts in constitutional democracy, and a master of arts in Atlantic history and politics.

The bachelor’s degree will focus on the history, theory, and practice of constitutional democracy. The master’s degree approaches U.S. history in relation to the wider Atlantic world of which it was part, including Europe, Latin America, and Africa.

Richard Kinder, a University of Missouri alumnus, co-founded Kinder Morgan, an energy company in Houston. The Kinders have given extensively over the years to a variety of causes mostly in the greater Houston area. They appeared on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual Philanthropy 50 report of the biggest donors in 2103 and 2016. They conduct most of their charitable giving through their foundation.

Deborah Heart and Lung Center

Gregory Olsen donated $5 million to expand and upgrade the hospital’s building and technology.

Olsen co-founded two manufacturing companies: Epitaxx, a manufacturer of fiber-optic detectors, which sold for $12 million in 1990; and Sensors Unlimited, a near-infrared camera manufacturer that sold for $600 million in 2000. In 2005, he became the third private citizen to orbit the Earth during a trip to the International Space Station.

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

Maria Di Mento directs the annual Philanthropy 50, a comprehensive report on America’s top donors. She covers wealthy philanthropists, arts organizations, and key trends, among other topics. She recently wrote about Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropy as he considers becoming a presidential candidate. Email Maria or follow her on Twitter.