February 10, 2014 | Read Time: 1 minute
Amount donated in 2013: $39-million
Beneficiary: University of Evansville
Background: Dr. Ridgway was an ophthalmologist and investor.
Dr. Ridgway, who was 92 when he died last year, left $39-million (the bulk of his estate) to endow the University of Evansville. The university was not his alma mater. He attended the institution, located in his Indiana hometown, for only a short time but ended up graduating from Indiana University.
The donor, who spent 40 years running an ophthalmology practice in San Francisco, had been involved with the institution since the 1960s, serving on its Board of Trustees, and ultimately moved back to Evansville after retiring 1989.
During his lifetime, Mr. Ridgway made many donations to the university, including $10-million in 2010 to establish the Ridgway University Center, a building that houses dining halls, a bookstore, a campus radio station, and offices for student organizations. He also bought Harlaxton College, a manor house in Grantham, England, and donated it to the university in 1986 for its study-abroad program.
The Philanthropy 50: Browse the full list of America’s most generous donors in 2013.
Learn more: See this donor’s listing in our database of major gifts, America’s Top Donors.
