U. of Cincinnati to Get $70-Million; Other Gifts

Three universities have received big gifts.

* The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine will receive a local family’s trust — currently valued at $70-million — for cancer research.

Adrian French, the 93-year-old son of the Cincinnati musician William H. French, announced his intent last month to hand over the trust. The university will control the principal of the fund, which it plans to place into an endowment; the college plans to use the investment income to recruit scientists and expand its cancer-research programs. The university will receive the trust upon Mr. French’s death.

William French, who died in 1973, had set up the trust in 1950 to ultimately support cancer research at the college after the fund had provided for his descendants. He had inherited the money from his uncle, the first secretary of the Procter & Gamble Company.

* The University of Southern California School of Music, in Los Angeles, has received $25-million from the local arts patron Flora Laney Thornton for its endowment.

Mrs. Thornton, who has performed in two Broadway musicals, is the widow of Charles (Tex) Thornton, founder of Litton Industries, a marine engineering and electronics company.

Previously, Mrs. Thornton had endowed a professorship and a cancer-prevention center at the university’s cancer institute. U.S.C. will rename the School of Music in her honor.

* The Emory University School of Medicine, in Atlanta, has received a $17-million bequest from the estate of Reunette W. Harris, widow of the businessman W. Clair Harris.

Mrs. Harris, who died in 1994, designated 60 per cent of the bequest for biomedical research, and 40 per cent for scholarships. The Harris family had made several previous gifts to the medical school, among them a donation to establish the scholarship fund.

Mr. Harris ran a garment-manufacturing business in Winder, Ga., for 30 years before turning to investments and real estate. He was chairman of W. C. Harris & Company and of Harris Realty Company until his death in 1973.

Other recent gifts:

Fresno Pacific U. (Cal.): Land valued at $1,300,000 from Chester Jost of Bakersfield, Cal., founder of Jost Floor Company, and his wife, Clella; Marvin Steinert of Bakersfield, a businessman, and his wife, Nadene; and Alvin Warkentine of Clovis, Cal., a retired dentist, and his wife, Dotty. Proceeds from the sale of the land will go to endowment and the capital campaign.

Gettysburg College (Pa.): $3,386,000 bequest from the estate of Adam Hazlett of Boca Raton, Fla., former executive vice-president at Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation, for unrestricted use.

Guiding Eyes for the Blind (N.Y.): A townhouse valued at $4,000,000 from the estate of Wanda Toscanini Horowitz of New York, wife of the late pianist Vladimir Horowitz and daughter of the late conductor Arturo Toscanini, for endowment.

Holy Cross Hospital (Fla.): $4,000,000 from Michael Bienes of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., an investor and retired accountant, and his wife, Dianne, to expand and endow the cancer center.

Hospital for Special Surgery (N.Y.): $5,000,000 from an anonymous donor to endow orthopedic-research projects.

Loyola U. (Ill.): $5,000,000 from Albert Speh of Oak Brook, Ill., co-founder of May & Speh Inc., an information-services company, and his wife, Claire, for research at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center and to endow a professorship in the urology department.

McCormick Theological Seminary (Ill.): $1,500,000 from an anonymous donor to endow a professorship in urban ministries.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (N.Y.): $5,000,000 from Paul Severino of Concord, Mass., chairman of the NetCentric Corporation, an Internet-fax-service company, and his wife, Kathleen, to endow the Center for Technological Entrepreneurship.

Roanoke College (Va.): $2,800,000 bequest from the estate of Lillian Jordan Muse of Richmond, Va., whose late husband, Fred, sold real estate and automobiles, for a professorship in religion and for unrestricted use.

Saint Michael’s College (Vt.): $2,100,000 from Robert Hoehl of South Burlington, Vt., chairman of IDX Corporation, which makes software for health-care systems, and his wife, Cynthia, for an admissions and welcome center.

Smith College (Mass.): $5,000,000 from Harvey Picker of Camden, Me., chairman of Wayfarer Marine Corporation, a company that maintains and stores yachts, to endow a program in engineering and technology.

U. of Evansville (Ind.): $2,000,000 from Dallas Suhrheinrich of Evansville, Ind., a former elementary-school teacher, for capital needs.

U. of Southern California: $1,500,000 from George Lucas of San Rafael, Cal., the motion-picture director and producer, to create a digital studio at the School of Cinema-Television.

Ursinus College (Pa.): $1,330,000 from Ivan W. Hess of Trappe, Pa., a physician, to endow a professorship in chemistry and to renovate the Pfahler Hall of Science, and a $1,200,000 bequest from the estate of Katherine Wicks Perry of Washington, whose late husband, Arthur, was an aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson, to complete the endowment of a professorship in philosophy and religion and to endow scholarships.

Youngstown State U. (Ohio): $1,000,000 from Dominic A. Bitonte of Columbiana, Ohio, a retired dentist, and his wife, Helen, to endow the College of Health and Human Services.