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Recent Private Gifts to Higher Education: 2 Universities Get Millions for Engineering

By  Chronicle Staff
October 21, 2018

A $50-million pledge from a California vineyard owner is intended to support an expensive private college’s efforts to cut tuition drastically. Two universities in Texas will name their mechanical-engineering departments in honor of J. Mike Walker, a manufacturer who gave each of them $20 million. A community college in California received a $12-million bequest to support its music and aquatics programs from a woman who once played violin in its symphony orchestra.

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A $50-million pledge from a California vineyard owner is intended to support an expensive private college’s efforts to cut tuition drastically. Two universities in Texas will name their mechanical-engineering departments in honor of J. Mike Walker, a manufacturer who gave each of them $20 million. A community college in California received a $12-million bequest to support its music and aquatics programs from a woman who once played violin in its symphony orchestra.

RankInstitutionDonorDonor backgroundGift valuePurpose
1. St. John’s College (Annapolis, Md., and Santa Fe, N.M.) Winiarski Family Foundation (Warren and Barbara Winiarski) Warren Winiarski founded Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, which was sold to a joint venture in 2007 for $185 million. He owns Arcadia Vineyards in the Napa Valley region of California. The couple are alumni of St. John’s. $50 million (pledge) matching challenge pledge for a capital campaign that is intended to allow the college to end “prestige pricing” and lower published tuition by about a third
1. U. of Pennsylvania, Wharton School Marc J. and Carolyn Rowan Marc Rowan co-founded the private-equity firm Apollo Global Management. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Wharton in 1984 and an M.B.A. in 1985. $50 million support for the Penn Wharton Budget Model, an economic-policy analysis program, and for new professorships and fellowships
3. Arizona State U. Mike and Cindy Watts The Wattses own Sunstate Equipment Company, a construction-equipment rental business. $30 million support for scholarships, professorships, student programs, and a neighborhood revitalization effort at the public-service college, which has been renamed the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions
4. Mayo Clinic School of Medicine-Arizona Campus William A. and Carolyn D. Franke William Franke is managing partner of the private-equity firm Indigo Partners, which focuses on investments in air transportation. $25 million support for scholarships, faculty development, and curriculum innovation
4. U. of Alabama School of Law Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. and Eliza Culverhouse Hugh Culverhouse, a lawyer, owns Palmer Ranch Holdings, a development company with a planned community in Florida. $25 million (pledge) endowment to support programming, scholarships, improvement of the law library and other facilities, and educational and career opportunities at the school, which was renamed the Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law
4. U. of California at San Diego Herbert A. and Nicole Wertheim Herbert Wertheim is an optometrist who founded Brain Power, a manufacturer of eye-care instruments, and who is known for developing tints for eyeglass lenses to filter out damaging ultraviolet light. $25 million seed money to support the establishment of a school of public health
4. U. of Virginia Chris and Carrie Shumway Foundation (Chris and Carrie Shumway) Chris Shumway founded the investment firm Shumway Capital, where he is managing partner, and is a visiting professor at UVa’s McIntire School of Commerce. $25 million support for a new academic building for the McIntire School of Commerce and a new bioscience business program; the new building will be named for the Shumway Foundation
4. Vanderbilt U. Lee and Ramona Bass Lee Bass is an heir to an oil fortune, president and chairman of the investment firm LMBI, chairman emeritus of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, and a member of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust. $25 million support for up to 40 scholarships for military veterans pursuing graduate and professional degrees in law, management, education, medicine, and nursing
9. Texas A&M U. at College Station J. Mike Walker co-founder of Dril-Quip, a manufacturer of offshore-drilling and production equipment, who earned a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M $20 million support for the mechanical-engineering department, which has been named for the donor
9. U. of Oklahoma at Norman Mulva Family Foundation (James and Miriam Mulva) James Mulva is a former chairman and chief executive of the energy company ConocoPhillips. He attended the university in the mid-1960s and was part of the Naval ROTC. $20 million support for an endowment for Reserve Officers’ Training Corps scholarships and for renovation of the armory building
9. U. of Texas at Austin J. Mike Walker co-founder of Dril-Quip, a manufacturer of offshore-drilling and production equipment, who earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from UT-Austin $20 million support for the mechanical-engineering department, which has been named for the donor
12. U. of California at Los Angeles Morton La Kretz founder and president of Crossroads Management, a real-estate development and property-management company, who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the university in 1948 $15 million support for renovation of the botany building, which has been renamed the La Kretz Botany Building
12. U. of Denver Douglas G. and Mary Scrivner Douglas Scrivner is a retired general counsel for Accenture, a management-consulting firm. He earned a law degree from the university in 1977. He was chairman of its Board of Trustees from 2014 to 2018 and has served as an adjunct professor at its Sturm College of Law. $15 million support for public-policy and leadership programs, and other university efforts; in recognition of the gift, the university’s new Institute of Public Policy was renamed in honor of them
12. U. of Texas at San Antonio Graham Weston founder of Weston Urban, a real-estate development firm in San Antonio, and a co-founder of Rackspace Hosting, a cloud-computing company that was bought by the private-equity firm Apollo Global Management in 2016 for $4.3 billion $15 million support for the university’s School of Data Science
15. U. of Notre Dame Mark and Dana Foley Mark Foley was chief executive of Zeltiq Aesthetics from 2012 to 2017, when the fat-reduction medical-technology company was sold to Allergan for $2.5 billion. Dana Foley co-founded Safe Campuses Now, which provided safety information for college students. $13 million gift to name a premium hospitality space at the university
16. Ventura College Foundation Miriam Schwab land owner and former violinist for the Ventura College Symphony Orchestra who died last year; she was the widow of Henry Schwab Jr., an heir to an oil fortune who was also a concert violinist $12 million (bequest) $10.2 million to support the college’s instrumental-music program, symphony orchestra, and a violin and viola competition; $1.8 million for the college’s aquatics program
17. U. of Arkansas at Fort Smith Foundation Myles Friedman a chemical engineer who was on the faculty of Westark Community College, the university’s predecessor; he died in 2017 $10.8 million (bequest) support for scholarships for students pursuing bachelor’s degrees in the arts or sciences
18. U. of Central Florida Vince and Joyce Virga Vince Virga co-founded the information-technology-staffing company SkillStorm Commercial Services. He is a 1995 graduate of Central Florida, and Joyce Virga is a 1998 graduate. $10.3 million (pledge) support for programs in the College of Business and UCF Athletics

Note: Gifts and biographical information were compiled from news articles, news releases, and The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s database of charitable gifts. The database compiles gifts of $1 million or more from 2005 to the present.The Chronicle of Higher Education maintains a separate list of major gifts of $50 million or more to colleges and universities, dating back to 1967. The value of gifts is based on information from institutions or donors at the time the gifts were promised or received. In cases of stock, property, art, and other noncash donations, actual value may have increased or decreased since the gifts were pledged or received. Grants are excluded. Gifts of the same amount are listed alphabetically by institution. Information on gifts can be sent to gifts@philanthropy.com. Questions or comments on the Chronicle List should be sent to Ruth Hammond.

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A version of this article appeared in the October 26, 2018, issue.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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