Valparaiso U. Receives $15-Million from Culinary Entrepreneur, Other Gifts

Two higher-education institutions received large gifts and pledges:

• Valparaiso University, in Indiana, has received a $15-million gift from Doris Christopher, founder and chairman of the Pampered Chef, a kitchen-tool company, and her husband, Jay, both of River Forest, Ill. Mr. Christopher is an alumnus of the university and chairman of the Thatcher Corporation, a marketing company.

  The gift will support capital improvements under way on the campus.

• The University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, has received a joint $11.5-million pledge from Alan Hassenfeld, of Bristol, R.I., chief executive officer of Hasbro, and Jerome Fisher, founder of the Nine West Group, as well as his wife, Anne Fisher, both of Palm Beach, Fla.

  The gift, which is unrestricted, will pay for building and renovation projects on the campus.

Other recent gifts:

Baryshnikov Center for Dance (New York): $2-million from Mikhail Baryshnikov, the renowned ballet dancer, to establish this new performing-arts center.

Blackburn College (Carlinville, Ill.): $1-million bequest from Enid Jane Pegram, who was a librarian in Jacksonville, Ill., for capital improvements and to endow a chair in the fine arts.

Central Missouri State (Warrensburg): Bequest in the form of land valued at $4-million from Regina Myers McClain, an alumna, teacher, and businesswoman. Income from the land will finance a center for nutrition and health.

The Citadel (Charleston, S.C.): $1-million from an alumnus, Gene Moore III, a real-estate developer and banker and a former mayor of Boynton Beach, Fla., for capital improvements.

Creighton U. (Omaha): A historic Omaha mansion valued at $1-million from Michael Gaughan, an alumnus and Las Vegas hotel owner, and his wife, Paula.

Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (Baton Rouge, La.): $1.2-million bequest from Walter Hohenstein, a former president of the society and former director of articulation at the U. System of Maryland, in Adelphi, and his wife, Adelheid, for endowment and fellowships.

Howard U. (Washington): $1-million from James E. Silcott, an architect in Los Angeles and an alumnus, to endow a chair in architecture.

Jordan Hospital (Plymouth, Mass.): $1-million from Lawrence A. Sykes, of Duxbury, Mass., for capital improvements.

Kansas U. Endowment Association (Lawrence): $2.1-million pledge from Cheryl Womack, of Mission Hills, Kan., an alumna and chief executive officer of VCW Holding Company, to construct a ballpark for the university women’s softball team, and to finance athletic scholarships.

U. of California at Santa Barbara: $1-million from Fred Gluck, of Santa Barbara, former managing director of McKinsey & Company, in New York, to endow a chair at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics.

U. of Wisconsin at Madison School of Business: $6.4-million from Scott Cook, co-founder of Intuit, in Mountain View, Calif., and his wife, Signe Ostby, an alumna and former vice president of marketing at Software Publishing Corporation, in Palo Alto, Calif., to establish a center for product management.

Western Baptist College (Salem, Ore.): $2.1-million cash donation from an anonymous donor, for capital improvements.