| 1. | U. of California at San Francisco | William K. Bowes Jr. Foundation | founding partner of the California investment firm U.S. Venture Partners, and a founding shareholder and former chairman of the biopharmaceutical company Amgen (Mr. Bowes Jr., who died in December) | $50 million (pledge) | creation of a program to support faculty researchers pursuing unconventional biomedical research |
| 1. | U. of Texas at Austin | Mulva Family Foundation (James and Miriam Mulva) | former chairman and chief executive of the energy company ConocoPhillips (Mr. Mulva) | $50 million | creation of the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences |
| 3. | Indiana U. School of Medicine | Donald Brown | chief executive of Interactive Intelligence, a communication-technologies company that was acquired by Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories for $1.4 billion in December, and an alumnus who earned a bachelor’s, master’s of science, and medical degree from the university | $30 million | establishment of the Brown Center for Immunotherapy, with $13 million devoted to creating five endowed faculty chairs and the rest to infrastructure, technologies, and research support |
| 4. | U. of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center | Mulva Family Foundation (James and Miriam Mulva) | former chairman and chief executive of the energy company ConocoPhillips (Mr. Mulva) | $25 million | support for research on melanoma and prostate cancer |
| 5. | Fordham U. | Maurice and Carolyn Dursi Cunniffe | chairman and chief executive of the investment firm Vista Capital, university alumnus, and former trustee (Mr. Cunniffe); former senior vice president at Cablevision Systems, an alumna who earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees at Fordham, and a trustee (Ms. Cunniffe) | $20 million | fund for merit scholarships |
| 5. | Northern State U. | Anonymous | n/a | $20 million | support for construction of new dormitories |
| 5. | Vanderbilt U. | Jeffrey and Marieke Rothschild | co-founder of Veritas Software, founding vice president for engineering at Facebook, and an alumnus who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the university in 1977 and a master’s in computer science in 1979 (Mr. Rothschild) | $20 million | support for continued development of the university’s residential colleges |
| 8. | Northern State U. | Anonymous | n/a | $15 million | support for construction of a new math and science building |
| 9. | Stevens Institute of Technology | Gianforte Family Foundation (Greg Gianforte) | founder and former chief executive of RightNow Technologies, a customer-support-solutions company that was sold to Oracle for $1.8 billion in 2012; managing director of the Bozeman Technology Incubator; alumnus who earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s in computer science at Stevens (Mr. Gianforte) | $10 million | naming gift for the Gianforte Academic Center, an interdisciplinary educational and research facility that Mr. Gianforte previously donated $10 million to help build |
| 10. | Seton Hall U. | Anonymous | n/a | $8 million (pledge) | endowed faculty chair in chemistry and biochemistry, and support for research, programs, and student scholarships |
| 10. | U. of Missouri at Columbia | Anonymous | n/a | $8 million | construction of a new football facility |
| 12. | Tallahassee Community College | Anonymous | n/a | $7.9 million (pledge to be paid out over 20 years) | student scholarships |
| 13. | California State U. at Los Angeles | William and Patricia Chin | former founding partner and executive medical director of HealthCare Partners (Mr. Chin); retired director and emerita faculty member of the university’s School of Nursing who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the university in the 1980s (Ms. Chin) | $7 million | naming gift for the Patricia A. Chin School of Nursing, establishment of the Chin Family Institute for Nursing, and creation of a nursing-simulation laboratory |
| 14. | Florida State U. | Albert J. and Judith A. Dunlap | former chief executive of Scott Paper Company and Sunbeam, and a director at large for the Seminole Boosters, the fund-raising arm of Florida State’s athletics (Mr. Dunlap); member of the university’s athletics board (Ms. Dunlap) | $5 million (pledge) | naming gift for premium seating at the Doak Campbell Stadium |
| 14. | U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Florence Fearrington | founder, in 1979, of her own money-management firm, which she later sold to U.S. Trust; university alumna with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics | $5 million | support for the university library, including $1 million to renovate the Fearrington Reading Room and adjacent exhibition areas, and $4 million to create the Fearrington Special Collections Library Fund |
| 16. | Gustavus Adolphus College | Robert and Beth Sparboe Schnell | president and chief executive of Sparboe Farms and a college alumna and trustee (Ms. Schnell); senior vice president at the Christensen Group and a college alumnus (Mr. Schnell) | $4 million | creation of two endowed faculty positions in economics and management |
| 17. | Gustavus Adolphus College | Anonymous | n/a | $3.7 million (cash) | two new scholarship programs for students with top academic performance |
| 18. | George Washington U. | Char Beales and her husband, Howard | former president and chief executive of the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (Ms. Beales); a professor and chair of the department of strategic management and public policy at the university’s School of Business (Mr. Beales) | $3.2 million (pledge) | creation of an endowed professorship in journalism in the School of Media and Public Affairs |
| 19. | U. of Missouri at Columbia | Anonymous | n/a | $3.1 million (pledge) | support for the softball program and its scholarship fund |
| 20. | Columbus State U., College of Letters and Sciences | Donald Jordan | author and real-estate investor | $3 million | creation of an endowment to support the Donald L. Jordan Prize in Traditional American Writing, as well as a professorship in creative writing and a study-abroad program |
| 20. | Pennsylvania State U. at University Park | Ted and Tracy McCourtney | investor and a former general partner at Venrock Associates (Mr. McCourtney); alumna and former social worker (Ms. McCourtney) | $3 million | establishment of the Tracy and Ted McCourtney Endowed Professorship Matching Gift Program to create six to nine additional endowed professorships in the College of the Liberal Arts |
| 22. | Miami U. (Ohio) | Ruth McConnell, in honor of her parents, Wallace and Della McConnell | 1946 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in literature, former administrative assistant at Stanford University, and daughter of Wallace McConnell, a geography professor at the university (Ruth McConnell, who died in 2015) | $2.3 million (bequest) | support for the library’s Walter Havighurst Special Collections and for teaching and research programs in the geography department |
| 23. | Binghamton U. | Anonymous | n/a | $2.2 million | upgrade of the baseball field |
| 24. | Bethel College (Kan.) | Douglas C. and Jane M. Seibel | alumna (Ms. Seibel) | $2 million (pledge) | establishment of an endowed chair in accountancy |
| 24. | U. of Missouri at St. Louis | Stan and Terry Freerks | area president of RPS, a wholesale insurance-brokerage firm, and an alumnus who earned an M.B.A. at the St. Louis campus (Mr. Freerks); executive director of the Clayton Shaw Park Swim Club, a retired mental-health counselor, and an alumna with a bachelor’s degree in history and master’s degree in education from the St. Louis campus (Ms. Freerks) | $2 million (pledge) | continuing support for scholarships, capital campaigns, athletics, the arts, St. Louis Public Radio, and other programs in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, and Business Administration |
| 24. | U. of California at Davis | Ken Grossman and his wife, Katie Gosner | founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company (Mr. Grossman) | $2 million | establishment of an endowment to support a full-time staff brewing position in the brewing-science program in the university’s department of food science and technology. |
| 27. | Valparaiso U. | Stephanie E. Umbach | daughter of a long-serving English professor at Valparaiso, a university alumna, and a longtime assistant professor of library services there who retired in 2009 and died last year | $1.8 million (bequest) | establishment of the Umbach Family Endowed Scholarship Fund |
| 28. | U. of Missouri at Columbia | Anonymous | n/a | $1.67 million | support of $1 million for a new football facility and the rest for athletics efforts |
| 29. | College of William & Mary | Cathy Bessant, John Clay, Millie West, and Tracy Leinbach | chief operations and technology officer at Bank of America and parent, with Mr. Clay, of a William & Mary student who is a member of its field-hockey team (Ms. Bessant); former tennis coach and director of women’s athletics at the college (Ms. West); former chief financial officer and executive vice president at the transportation company Ryder System and alumna (Ms. Leinbach) | $1.4 million | support for a field-hockey multi-use building |
| 29. | U. of Missouri at Columbia | Anonymous | n/a | $1.4 million | construction of a new football facility |
| 31. | Valparaiso U. | Lesley Chapman | president, senior technical manager, and cofounder of OCS Environmental, an environmental consulting and technical-services company, and a Valparaiso alumnus with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry | $1.1 million (pledge) | support for the unrestricted endowment fund |
| 32. | Benedictine U. | Katherine (Kay) Birck, widow of Michael Birck | co-founder and former chief executive and chairman of the telecommunications company Tellabs, parent (with Ms. Birck) of a 1988 university graduate, and a former university trustee (Mr. Birck, who died in 2015 ) | $1 million | scholarships for talented, financially needy students in the College of Science |
| 32. | Culver-Stockton College | Betty Dancey | daughter of Russell Dancey, a co-founder of New Era Potato Chip Company, which later merged with Frito-Lay and is now part of PepsiCo | $1 million | naming gift to support construction of a residence hall, which will be named in honor of Robert and Carolyn Brown, the college’s former president and his wife |
| 32. | Florida Gulf Coast U. | Mike and Karen Hartley | former work in manufacturing (Mr. Hartley); past work in hotel management (Ms. Hartley) | $1 million | creation of the Hartley Academic Resource Center for student athletes in the Alico Arena |
| 32. | Michigan State U. | Craig Bush | private-equity investor and 1983 university alumnus | $1 million | support for construction of lights at DeMartin Stadium, for the men’s and women’s soccer teams |
| 32. | Poynter Institute for Media Studies | Craig Newmark Foundation | founder of the classified-advertising website Craigslist and a member of the Poynter Foundation board (Mr. Newmark) | $1 million | support for a faculty chair in journalism ethics |
| 32. | St. Mary’s U. | Bill Greehey | founding chief executive of Valero Energy Corporation, and chairman of its spinoff, NuStar Energy, and an alumnus | $1 million | support for the Greehey Scholars Program |
| 32. | Trine U. | Larry and Judy Reiners | a former owner of Pro-Quip Corporation, which designed and fabricated gas and petroleum plants, and a university trustee who earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at the university in 1965, when it was known as Tri-State College (Mr. Reiners) | $1 million (pledge) | support for construction of a new sports facility |
| 32. | U. of Arizona Health Sciences | Jolita Leonas-Arzbaecher | Chicago-area philanthropist | $1 million | support for the Center for Integrative Medicine. |
| 32. | U. of Missouri at Columbia | Anonymous | n/a | $1 million | support for construction of a new football facility |
| 32. | U. of Toledo | Janet Keller and her husband, the Rev. Gerald Keller | a former high-school Spanish teacher who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from the university in the 1960s (Ms. Keller) | $1 million | support for the Judith Herb College of Education |
| 32. | Villanova U. | Sheila Labrecque, widow of Thomas Labrecque | former chairman and chief executive of the Chase Manhattan Corporation and a Villanova alumnus and trustee (Mr. Labrecque, who died in 2000) | $1 million | support for construction of a new athletic-training complex |
| 32. | West Texas A&M U. | Bob and Mary Stewart | certified public accountant, former chief engineer at GSM Enterprises, and a 1972 university alumnus (Mr. Stewart) | $1 million | establishment of an endowment for athletics scholarships |