Ohio Medical Center Receives $70-Million Pledge; Other Gifts

Five institutions have received big gifts:

• The Cleveland Clinic has received a $70-million pledge from Sydell L. Miller and her daughters, Lauren Spilman and Stacie Halpern, for a new cardiac center. Ms. Miller and her husband, Arnold, who died in 1992, founded Matrix Essentials, a company in Solon, Ohio, that manufactures hair and beauty products.
• Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, has received a $26-million pledge from Edward M. Warner for its College of Natural Resources. Mr. Warner, a 1968 graduate of the university, founded Expedition Oil Company, in Denver.
• Indiana University, in Bloomington, has received a pledge of land valued at $25-million from William J. Godfrey for scholarships and facility improvements at its Kelley School of Business. Mr. Godfrey is the president of Trinity Associates Real Estate, in Hilton Head, S.C., and a 1964 graduate of the university, which will receive the land upon his death.
• John A. Williams has given $10-million to help construct the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, in Atlanta. Mr. Williams is chief executive officer of Corporate Holdings, in Atlanta.
• The National Symphony Orchestra, in Washington, has received $10-million from Roger and Victoria Sant to endow the music director’s chair. Mr. Sant is co-founder of the AES Corporation, an international power company, and a member of the NSO board. Ms. Sant is president of the National Gallery of Art, in Washington.

Other recent gifts:

Anne Arundel Medical Center Foundation (Annapolis, Md.): $1-million from Suzanne and Albert Lord, of Annapolis, to expand the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Mr. Lord is chairman of the SLM Corporation, in Reston, Va., and Ms. Lord is a longtime volunteer with the hospital.

Ballet Austin (Tex.): $2.5-million from Ernest and Sarah Butler to renovate a facility. Dr. Butler, a retired physician, founded the Austin Ear, Nose, & Throat Clinic.

Mariners’ Museum (Newport News, Va.): $1-million from Ted Segerstrom and his family for a new center to exhibit artifacts from the USS Monitor, a Civil War-era ship. Mr. Segerstrom is the developer of South Coast Plaza, in Orange County, Calif.

Northwestern U. (Evanston, Ill.): $1-million from Ellen Philips Katz, of New York, to endow the directorship of the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art. Ms. Katz, a university trustee, also serves on the board of the Mount Sinai Medical Center, in New York, as well as other organizations.

St. Louis Zoo: $1-million from Steven F. Schankman to build a plaza at the zoo. Mr. Schankman is the founder of Contemporary Productions, a special-events, entertainment-marketing, and venue-management company in St. Louis.

Stateline Community Foundation (Beloit, Wis.): Bequest valued at approximately $4-million from Verne Richardson, to be divided among the First United Methodist Church, Rock County Christian School, and the Stateline Boys & Girls Club, which are all in the Beloit area. Mr. Richardson was a farmer in South Beloit, Ill.

U. of Illinois Foundation (Urbana): $3-million from David C. and Jane Y. Eades to support orthoptera research for the Illinois Natural History Survey at the university’s Urbana-Champaign campus. Mr. Eades is managing general partner of Regency Associates, in Champaign, Ill., and also serves as an adjunct professional scientist for the Illinois Natural History Survey. Ms. Eades is a retired president of Phoenix Gateway International, in Champaign.

U. of Indianapolis: $1.1-million from Norman and Dottie Terry, of Zionsville, Ind., to expand and renovate Esch Hall. Mr. Terry, a trustee of the university, is the former owner of Prince Castle, a food-service company.

U. of Iowa (Iowa City): $1-million bequest from Samir D. Gergis to endow a professorship in the College of Medicine’s Department of Anesthesia. Mr. Gergis, who died this year, was a faculty member in the department.

U. of Michigan (Ann Arbor): $1-million from Leonard Miller to expand its Kellogg Eye Center. Mr. Miller, a member of the class of 1955, was a founding partner in Molmec, a Walled Lake, Mich., company that supplies automotive parts.

U. of Missouri at Columbia: $2.3-million from Russell D. and Mary B. Shelden for a center at the university’s School of Medicine that will enable students to practice medical procedures on electronically controlled mannequins. Dr. Shelden served as a faculty member in the school’s Department of Anesthesiology for 25 years. In addition, the university’s law school has received $1-million from George Ashley, a 1948 graduate of the school, for its library. Mr. Ashley, of Dallas, served as an adjunct professor at the law school.

Virginia Tech (Blacksburg): $1-million from Michael W. Clarke, a member of the class of 1983, to endow a professorship in finance at the Pamplin College of Business. Mr. Clarke is chief executive officer of the Access National Corporation, in Reston, Va.