San Francisco Philanthropist Aids Cultural Institutions; Other Recent Gifts

The holiday gift-giving season has come early for several San Francisco cultural institutions, thanks to the largesse of Phyllis Wattis, a local philanthropist and arts patron.

Mrs. Wattis has donated $20-million to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco — which comprises the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor — for acquisitions and for a planned new facility for the de Young Museum. The museum’s trustees voted this summer to move the museum from its current site in Golden Gate Park and are exploring options.

Mrs. Wattis also gave $10-million to the California Academy of Sciences, with the stipulation that the money be used to construct new buildings after its trustees decide whether the museum, aquarium, and research facility will remain in Golden Gate Park or move to a location in downtown San Francisco.

A $5-million gift went to the San Francisco Art Institute for its campaign to refurbish existing facilities, develop new buildings, increase academic support, and endow overall operations. A second $5-million gift went to the Exploratorium for its capital campaign and for the “Live at the Exploratorium” program at its multimedia theater.

Mrs. Wattis is a lifetime trustee of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and a board member of the San Francisco Opera Association. She served as president of the Paul L. and Phyllis Wattis Foundation until she dissolved it several years ago and distributed the assets — which totaled approximately $26-million — to various San Francisco-area institutions.

Two colleges have also received large gifts:

* The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia has received $10-million from P. Roy Vagelos and his wife, Diana, for a new interdisciplinary program in molecular life sciences for students considering careers in the biological sciences.

Beginning in fall 1998, 10 undergraduate students annually will be chosen for the program, which will provide them with both financial aid and stipends for summer research projects.

Mr. Vagelos serves as chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees and is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Merck & Company, the pharmaceutical and health-care corporation based in Whitehouse Station, N.J.

The gift was announced at a ceremony marking the opening of the Roy & Diana Vagelos Laboratories of the Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. A $10-million gift made by the couple in September 1995 was instrumental in the laboratories’ construction.

* An anonymous donor has given $10-million to Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport for unrestricted use.

The college’s trustees voted to designate the gift as a dollar-for-dollar matching fund to invite additional donations to the college’s capital campaign, which will be publicly announced next fall.

Other recent gifts:

AIDS Action Council (D.C.): $1,400,000 from David Geffen of Los Angeles, co-founder of the entertainment company Dreamworks SKG, to purchase a building in Washington that will serve as the council’s new headquarters facility.

Augustana College (S.D.): $2,000,000 from Sally M. Fantle of Sioux Falls, S.D., widow of Benjamin Fantle, whose family founded Fantle’s Department Store, to construct a new facility for the Center for Western Studies and for the social-sciences building.

Greensboro College (N.C.): $1,000,000 from an anonymous donor for improvements in technology.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens (Cal.): $3,000,000 from George Boone of San Marino, Cal., a retired orthodontist, and his wife, MaryLou, to create a new exhibition space.

Mississippi State U.: Everett L. Tessmer of Wausau, Wis., president of Northwoods Employment and Rehabilitation Services, has pledged his estate, currently valued at $1,300,000, to the university upon his death. The gift will support counselor-education programs in the College of Education.

Mount Sinai Medical Center (N.Y.): $5,000,000 from Michael A. Wiener of New York, founder and chairman of Infinity Broadcasting Corporation before its acquisition last year by Westinghouse, and his wife, Zena, a vocalist and pianist, for the cardiovascular institute.

Roosevelt U. (Ill.): $1,000,000 bequest from the estate of Natalie Share of Winnetka, Ill., an investor, for scholarships.

Shawnee State U. (Ohio): $2,600,000 from an anonymous donor for the library.

Southwest Baptist U. (Mo.): $1,000,000 from Edna Wheeler of Springfield, Mo., and her late husband, Clarence, founder of the Consumers Markets chain of grocery stores, for scholarships.

State U. of West Georgia: $1,000,000 bequest from the estate of Antonio J. Waring, Jr., of Savannah, Ga., a pediatrician, for scholarships in anthropology.

Texas A&M U.-Corpus Christi: $1,000,000 from Ed Harte of Corpus Christi, former publisher of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, and his wife, Janet, for unrestricted use.

F. F. Thompson Foundation (N.Y.): $1,000,000 from William Rayburn of Canandaigua, N.Y., retired chief executive officer of Snap-On Inc., a tool manufacturer, and his wife, Margaret, for unrestricted use. The foundation is the fund-raising arm of the F. F. Thompson Health System.

U. of Portland (Ore.): $2,500,000 from Albert D. Corrado of Portland, an owner of Columbia Funds Management Company, and his wife, Susanne, to construct a residence hall.

U. of Utah: $1,250,000 from Jon Huntsman of Salt Lake City, chairman of Huntsman Corporation, a chemical company, to endow a chair in the School of Business.

Union Memorial Hospital (Md.): $1,750,000 bequest from the estate of Bliss Flaccus of Towson, Md., for capital improvements.

Vanderbilt U. (Tenn.): $1,250,000 from Cal Turner, Jr., of Nashville, chairman of Dollar General Corporation, to endow a chair at the Divinity School.

Vassar College (N.Y.): $1,500,000 from Priscilla Bullitt Collins of Seattle, for environmental-sciences programs, and a $1,000,000 bequest from the estate of Lois P. Williams of Hartford, Conn., for scholarships.