1. | California Institute of Technology | Stewart and Lynda Resnick | The Resnicks own the Wonderful Company, which oversees food and beverage brands like Fiji Water, Pom Wonderful, and Wonderful Pistachios. | $750 million (pledge) | creation of a permanent endowment to support research in solar science, climate science, energy, biofuels, decomposable plastics, water and environmental resources, and ecology and biosphere engineering, to be centered at a new building that will be called the Resnick Sustainability Resource Center |
2. | National U. | T. Denny Sanford | He is chairman of the United National Corporation, the holding company of First Premier Bank and Premier Bankcard, in South Dakota. | $350 million | endowment to improve online and other education for working adults, lower tuition, and increase enrollment at the university, which will be renamed Sanford National University |
3. | U. of Virginia | David and Jane Walentas | David Walentas is a billionaire who co-founded the Brooklyn real-estate development firm Two Trees Management and a UVa alumnus who earned degrees in 1961 and 1964 and was a first-generation college student. | $100 million (pledge) | $50 million to help establish scholarships for undergraduates who are the first in their families to attend college and who are from the State of Virginia, Rochester, N.Y., or New York City; $25-million for fellowships for first-generation college graduates pursuing an M.B.A.; and the rest for other fellowships and professorships |
4. | Gordon College | anonymous | n/a | $75.5 million | capital-campaign gift that will increase the amount available for student scholarships |
5. | U. of Washington Medicine | Mike and Lynn Garvey | Mike Garvey co-founded Saltchuk, a transportation and distribution company in Seattle, in 1982. | $50 million | creation of the Garvey Institute for Brain Health Solutions, where researchers will work on developing new treatments for brain disorders like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, and Alzheimer’s disease |
6. | U. of California at San Francisco | Marc and Lynne Benioff | Marc Benioff is founder and co-chief executive of Salesforce.com, a customer-relationship management platform, in San Francisco. | $35 million | establishment of the UCSF Benioff Initiative for Prostate Cancer Research, with funds to recruit research faculty members and to support research projects and research fellows |
7. | Syracuse U. | John and Laura Lally | John Lally, a 1982 alumnus and football letterman, is a former president of PCB Piezotronics, a sensor-technology manufacturer that was co-founded by family members in 1967 and sold in 2016. | $25 million (pledge) | support for athletics facilities and operations |
7. | U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, College of Arts and Sciences | anonymous | n/a | $25 million (bequest) | fellowships for graduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences who will teach or mentor undergraduate students and who will be eligible for an additional summer stipend and funds to travel or attend academic conferences |
7. | U. of Texas at Austin | Gary L. Thomas | He is a 1972 alumnus who recently retired as president of the oil company EOG Resources Inc. | $25 million (pledge) | support to help pay for the new Gary L. Thomas Energy Engineering Building, which will house laboratories and classrooms for the Cockrell School of Engineering |
10. | U. of California at Berkeley and U. of California at San Francisco | Charles R. Schwab | He is a billionaire financier who founded the Charles Schwab Corporation, a securities brokerage with headquarters in San Francisco. He received a diagnosis of dyslexia at age 40. | $20 million | creation of the UCSF-UC Berkeley Schwab Dyslexia and Cognitive Diversity Center, a multidisciplinary clinical and research program aimed at improving the understanding, assessment, and treatment of dyslexia and other neurodevelopmental differences that affect learning |
10. | U. of California at Los Angeles | Bedari Foundation (Matthew C. and Jennifer Harris) | Matthew Harris, a 1984 UCLA alumnus, is a partner at the fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners, in New York. | $20 million | establishment of the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute in the division of social sciences to support research on kindness and translate that to real-world actions |
10. | U. of Virginia, School of Architecture | anonymous | n/a | $20 million (bequest) | creation of endowments to support an international travel program, two professorships in architectural history, and fellowships for students in doctoral and master’s-degree programs |
10. | Vassar College | anonymous | The donor is a graduate of Vassar. | $20 million | support for the design and construction of the Institute for the Liberal Arts and Inn |
14. | Rhode Island School of Design | Rayon Foundation Trust (Royal Little) | Royal Little founded Textron Inc., a textiles manufacturer, in 1923 and eventually expanded it into a $14.2-billion international, multi-industry conglomerate. He died in 1989 at the age of 92. | $19.9 million (bequest) | continued support from the trust, which has matured, for the study of textiles |
15. | Morehouse College | Oprah Winfrey | She is a billionaire who founded the cable-TV network Oprah Winfrey Network and hosted the Oprah Winfrey Show from 1986 to 2011. | $13 million | augmentation of a scholarship endowment that Winfrey created 30 years ago |
16. | Illinois State U. | Wonsook Kim and her husband, Thomas Park Clement | Kim, who earned degrees from Illinois State in 1975, 1976, and 1978, is a visual artist. Clement, her husband, is a medical-device inventor who founded and was chief executive of the biotechnology company Mectra Labs, which was acquired by Key Surgical in 2019. | $12 million | support for new technology, scholarships, visiting artists and professors, and other programs at the renamed Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts and Wonsook Kim School of Art |
16. | U. of Southern California | Patrick and Bonnie Fuscoe | Patrick Fuscoe founded Fuscoe Engineering, in Irvine, Calif. The couple met in 1972 as undergraduates at the university. | $12 million | $10 million for the general funds of the Viterbi School of Engineering, and $1 million each for the Kaufman School of Dance and the School of Cinematic Arts |
18. | California State U. at Fresno | Stewart and Lynda Resnick | The Resnicks own the Wonderful Company, which oversees food and beverage brands like Fiji Water, Pom Wonderful, and Wonderful Pistachios. | $10 million | support for the design and construction of a new student union |
18. | Rhode Island School of Design | anonymous | n/a | $10 million | establishment of the Society of Presidential Fellows, which will provide full tuition and professional-development opportunities to selected graduate students |
18. | Saint Peter’s U. | Frank J. Guarini | He is a real-estate developer and a former New Jersey state senator, a former U.S. congressman, and a former U.S. representative to the General Assembly of the United Nations. | $10 million | expansion of programs and addition of new projects in the School of Business, which will be named for the donor |
18. | St. John’s U. (N.Y.) | William L. and Lesley H. Collins | William Collins, a 1976 alumnus, founded the hedge fund Brencourt Advisors in 2001 and shut it down in 2012. Lesley Collins is a 1983 alumna. | $10 million (pledge) | support for scholarships and creation of a chair in the renamed Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies |