Two Donors Award Gifts of $100-Million Apiece

Two nonprofit groups have each received donations of $100-million:

• Gerhard R. Andlinger, an investment manager, has pledged $100-million to Princeton University, in large part to stimulate research and education on efforts to curb global warming.
• David H. Koch, a businessman, has pledged $100-million to help renovate the New York State Theater, which is home to the New York City Ballet and the New York City Opera.

Mr. Andlinger, founder and chairman of Andlinger & Company, an international investment and management firm in Tarrytown, N.Y., plans to pay off all his pledge within the next five years, the university said.

Princeton’s School of Engineering and Applied Science plans to use $70-million of the total gift to create a center that will study energy and the environment, and is going to direct the remainder of the money toward engineering research laboratories, the hiring of four new faculty members, and an endowment to finance research projects that are too new to qualify for federal support. A portion of the money will also support a program that will bring industry experts, policy makers, scientists, engineers, and academics together to study and work on energy and environmental issues.

“We don’t want to conduct this kind of research in the absence of a dialogue with people in industry and others who work on these matters,” said Princeton University president, Shirley M. Tilghman.

Ms. Tilghman said the university hopes the work of the new center will enable scientists to use their discoveries to help scientists and engineers create better ways to manage carbon-dioxide emissions and create new types of alternative energies.

“We also hope to educate the next generation of scientists, engineers, and policy makers who will take out of Princeton a deep sensitivity to global warming, and educate citizens,” said Ms. Tilghman.

Mr. Andlinger, who is 77, graduated from Princeton in 1952. He was born in Austria and came to the United States in 1948 when he won an essay-writing contest sponsored by the New York Herald Tribune. He earned a degree in economics and Arabic from the university, and an M.B.A. from Harvard. He then joined the U.S. Army, where he worked in military intelligence, and later became a management consultant for McKinsey & Company. He started his investment firm in 1976.

Mr. Andlinger has previously donated $27-million to the university. He gave approximately $2-million in 1991 for a professorship in social sciences, and in 2000 he gave $25-million to establish the Andlinger Center for the Humanities.

‘An Immense Admirer’

Mr. Koch’s gift is the largest private donation ever received by Lincoln Center, the performing-arts complex of which the New York State Theater is a part.

“I love the New York State Theater — I’ve been attending ballets and operas there for 40 years,” Mr. Koch said. “I’m an immense admirer of the quality of their work.”

The gift is part of a $200-million capital campaign to renovate the theater, which is owned by New York City, and establish an endowment for future improvements to the building. The first phase of the renovation, expected to conclude in October 2009, will include new seats and carpets, an enlarged orchestra pit with a mechanical lift, and a new stage-lighting system, among other improvements. A second phase might include improving the lobby, dressing rooms, and other areas. The rest of the money expected to be raised in the campaign would go into an endowment to support the theater.

“We’d like the endowment to be as big as possible,” said Kenneth Tabachnick, general manager of New York City Ballet. “If we could lock in the work at $100-million and have $100-million left for the endowment, we’d all be thrilled. That would just mean a much better future for the theater.”

The theater, built as part of the 1964-65 World’s Fair, will be renamed the David H. Koch Theater.

Mr. Koch is executive vice president of Koch Industries, a company started by his father, Frederick, with operations in several industries, including oil and gas. David Koch’s 40-percent ownership stake in the company represents the vast bulk of a personal fortune estimated by Forbes at $17-billion. He has given more than $200-million for medical research and ranked No. 14 last year on The Chronicle’s list of the nation’s 50 biggest philanthropists.

Mr. Koch, a New York City resident who attends eight to 10 performances per year in the theater, says he has noticed worn carpets, cracked marble in the floor of the foyer, and the building’s outdated lighting system.

“They need the money in the worst way,” Mr. Koch says. “It’s been a slow decline. It’s like your home — if you don’t put any money into it, it slowly deteriorates. You might not notice it, but the people who visit you will.”

The pledge will be paid over 10 years, with a $15-million payment this summer, a $10-million annual payment for eight years, and a final $5-million installment.

As part of the gift agreement, the naming rights to the theater expire after 50 years, although Mr. Koch’s heirs will have the right to make another significant gift to keep his name on the building. Mr. Koch says he’s happy with the arrangement, which will give the theater a carrot with which to seek a big gift in the future.

“In 50 years, this theater is going to be in bad need of another renovation,” he says.

To keep track of large donations that have been announced this year — and see a tally of how much the most-generous donors have given so far — go to http://philanthropy.com/topdonors.