1. | Princeton U. | Perelman Family Foundation (Ronald O. and Debra G. Perelman) | Ronald Perelman is chairman and chief executive of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, in New York, and chairman of the cosmetics company Revlon. Debra Perelman, his daughter and a 1996 Princeton alumna, is chief executive of Revlon. | $65 million | establishment of Perelman College, the university’s seventh residential college, which will help advance the institution’s goal of expanding undergraduate enrollment by 10 percent |
2. | Virginia Tech | Horace G. Fralin Charitable Trust (Heywood and Cynthia Fralin) | Heywood Fralin, a Roanoke lawyer and chairman of Medical Facilities of America and Retirement Unlimited, is a former member of Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors and chair of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The trust is named for his older brother, a Roanoke real-estate developer who died in 1993. | $50 million | support for biomedical research at the newly named Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, at the health-sciences campus in Roanoke |
3. | U. of Michigan Law School | Chris and Lisa Jeffries | Chris Jeffries, a 1974 graduate of Michigan Law, is cofounder of the real-estate development company Millennium Partners, and was a principal in the leveraged buyout of Key International, a metal-recycling and automotive-equipment manufacturing business. | $33 million | student support, including scholarships and other forms of financial aid and debt management |
4. | San Francisco State U. | George and Judy Marcus | George Marcus cofounded Marcus & Millichap, a real-estate investment-services company in California, and is a trustee emeritus of California State University’s Board of Trustees. He graduated from the university in 1965, and Judy Marcus graduated in 1962. | $26.8 million | $25 million to support the university’s liberal-arts programs, including the creative-writing department and School of Cinema; $1.8 million to create an athletics scholarship fund |
5. | U. of Arizona, College of Optical Sciences | James C. Wyant | professor emeritus of optical sciences, founding dean of the university’s College of Optical Sciences, and chairman of 4D Technology Corporation, an optics metrology company in Tucson | $20 million (pledge) | endowment for 10 research professorships in the college |
5. | U. of Texas at Austin, Red McCombs School of Business | Phil and Mary Beth Canfield | Phil Canfield, a 1989 university alumnus, is a managing director at GTCR, a private-equity firm in Chicago. | $20 million | support for full-tuition scholarships, student recruitment, and broadening of program offerings and student resources in the business school’s honors program |
7. | Tyler Junior College (Tex.) | James F. and Virginia Gatewood | Jim Gatewood, a petroleum landman and investor, died in 2001. Virginia Gatewood died in 2017. | $19 million (bequest) | endowment to sustain an honors scholarship program that the donors first endowed in 2001 |
8. | Brandeis U. | Tom Watanabe | chairman emeritus and former chief executive at Nikken Global, a home-wellness-products company; a 1973 graduate of the university; and president of the Toshizo Watanabe Foundation, in California | $10 million | creation of scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students from Japan |
8. | U. of North Carolina at Wilmington | David S. and Helen Congdon | David Congdon, a 1978 university alumnus, is executive chairman and former president and chief executive of Old Dominion Freight Line, which was founded by his grandparents | $10 million (pledge) | establishment of the David S. Congdon School of Supply Chain, Business Analytics and Information Systems within the Cameron School of Business, with anticipated support for scholarships, professorships, and research; the university’s Computer Information Systems Building will be renamed David S. Congdon Hall |
10. | Austin College (Tex.) | William Richardson | a Texas business consultant and 1964 college alumnus who died in 2017 at age 74 | $9 million (bequest) | endowment for four faculty chairs each named, at the donor’s request, the Bill Richardson Chair in Skeptical Thought |
11. | Elizabethtown College (Pa.) | anonymous | alumni couple | $8.5 million (pledge) | contribution to the college’s capital campaign to help the institution improve facilities and increase the endowment |
12. | Georgia Southern U. | Gregory M. Parker | founder and president of Parker’s Corporation, which manages convenience stores in Georgia and South Carolina | $5 million (pledge) | scholarships, faculty research support, and other support for the business school, which will be renamed the Gregory M. Parker College of Business |
13. | Illinois Wesleyan U. | C.B. Frevert Family Trust (Cyril Frevert) | Cyril Frevert owned more than 930 acres of farmland in McLean County, Ill., which sold at auction for $11.6 million after he died, in 2017. He was a 1961 graduate of the university and was a teacher and church organist. | $3.5 million (bequest) | support for student scholarships and equipment in the School of Music |
14. | Austin College (Tex.) | Jim and Sally Nation | Jim Nation is the chairman of First Co., a Dallas manufacturer of heating and air-conditioning systems. Sally Nation graduated from the college in 1964 and serves on its Board of Trustees. | $2 million | renovation of the Ida Green Communication Center’s lobby and main theater, and an upgrade of the theater’s technology systems |
14. | Michigan State U. | Ronald and Jane Wall Lacher | Ronald Lacher retired as a chemical engineer for Dow Chemical Company. Jane Wall Lacher, a Michigan State alumna, is a retired clinical veterinarian at Dow’s Toxicology and Environmental Research and Consulting laboratory. | $2 million (pledge) | support for an endowed professorship in nursing research and scholarships for veterinary students |
14. | Wabash College (Ind.) | Stephen S. and Joanie Bowen | Steve Bowen, who graduated from the college in 1986 and is a member of its Board of Trustees, retired after 42 years of practicing law. He teaches theological ethics at the college. | $2 million | unrestricted use |