No. 29: Bruce and Martha Karsh
February 6, 2012 | Read Time: 1 minute
Amount donated in 2011: $50-million
Beneficiary: Duke University
Donors’ background: Mr. Karsh is a co-founder and president of Oaktree Capital Management, in Los Angeles. Ms. Karsh is a co-founder and lawyer at Clark & Karsh, an architecture, design, and development firm in Los Angeles.
Mr. Karsh, 56, and his wife, Martha, pledged $50-million to Duke to provide financial aid for American and international undergraduate students. Of this gift, $20-million will benefit the International Scholars program, to provide aid to needy students who are not from the United States. The remaining $30-million will support students from the United States: $15-million is for a scholarship fund; $10-million will serve as a challenge to encourage other donors to establish their own named undergraduate scholarships for students from poor families; and $5-million will provide financial aid for tuition and other support for graduates of the Knowledge Is Power Program (commonly known as KIPP) who attend Duke.
The university did not disclose a payment schedule for the gift. The couple previously gave $35-million for undergraduate financial aid to Duke.
Mr. Karsh graduated from Duke in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and is a trustee of the university.
—Caroline Bermudez
