Recent Private Gifts to Higher Education (January 2018)

Many major gifts to colleges come from older alumni: for instance, a recent $250-million gift to Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons from a retired pharmaceutical executive who earned his medical degree there in 1954. But the Rochester Institute of Technology received a $50-million gift from a much more recent graduate. Austin McChord shared with the university some of the proceeds from the sale of the cybersecurity company he started in 2007, two years before completing his degree at RIT. Other donors of recent large gifts made fortunes in audio equipment, cattle ranching, and the international operation of health-care facilities.

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Rank	Institution	Donor	Donor background	Gift value	Purpose
1.	Columbia U. College of Physicians and Surgeons	P. Roy and Diana T. Vagelos	Dr. Vagelos, a 1954 alumnus of the college, is a retired chairman and chief executive of the Merck & Company pharmaceutical corporation, and a co-founder of the biopharmaceutical company Theravance. Ms. Vagelos, a 1955 Barnard College alumnus, is a vice chair of Barnard’s Board of Trustees.	$250 million	$150 million to create an endowment for financial aid to qualified medical students, including full-tuition scholarships for those with the greatest need; $100 million to support precision-medicine programs, scientific research, and a new professorship in the college, which will be renamed the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
2.	U. of Cambridge	Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund (Ray and Dagmar Dolby)	Mr. Dolby, who died in 2013 at the age of 80, founded Dolby Laboratories, a San Francisco developer of audio equipment. He earned his doctorate from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory in 1961.	$114.1 million	support for research and a professorship at Cavendish Laboratory; the flagship building of the physics-research laboratory, which is being redeveloped, will be named the Ray Dolby Centre
3.	West Texas A&M U.	Paul Engler and the Paul F. and Virginia J. Engler Foundation	Mr. Engler is a cattle rancher in Amarillo, Tex., and a co-founder and chairman of Cactus Feeders. Ms. Engler died in 1996.	$80 million (pledge)	pledge of at least $1 million a year over the next 80 years, to be split evenly between two university colleges, which have been renamed the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences and the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business
4.	Rochester Institute of Technology	Austin McChord	A 2009 RIT alumnus, Mr. McChord founded his cybersecurity start-up company, Datto, in 2007. Vista Equity Partners acquired the company for $1.5 billion in December and merged it with Autotask. Mr. McChord is chief executive of the merged company.	$50 million	$30 million to support creativity and entrepreneurship programs at the university, including support for “entrepreneurial gap year” fellowships and construction of a new Maker Library & Innovative Learning Complex of the Future; $20 million to attract and retain cybersecurity and artificial-intelligence faculty and graduate students and expand the university’s facilities in those areas
5.	Gustavus Adolphus College	Anonymous	alumni couple	$25 million	$10 million to endow the Center for Career Development, $10 million to support scholarships and financial aid, and $5 million for capital projects on campus
5.	U. of Delaware	Carol A. Ammon and Marie Pinizzotto	Ms. Ammon, a university trustee, is a founder and retired chairman of Endo Pharmaceuticals, in Pennsylvania. Dr. Pinizzotto, an obstetrician/gynecologist who earned an M.B.A. from Delaware in 2008, is chief executive and executive director of the Carol A. Ammon Foundation.	$25 million	support for construction of a biopharmaceutical-innovation research facility
5.	U. of Notre Dame	James F. (Jay) Flaherty III and Mary Hesburgh Flaherty	Mr. Flaherty, a 1979 alumnus and a member of the university’s Board of Trustees, is a former chairman and chief executive of HCP, a real-estate-investment-trust company. Ms. Flaherty, a 1979 alumna, is a niece of the late Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, who led Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987.	$25 million	$20 million to help renovate and maintain Corby Hall, the on-campus residence for Congregation of Holy Cross priests and brothers; $5 million to support services for aging members of that religious community
5.	U. of Washington	Daniel R. and Pam Baty	Mr. Baty is a founder and chairman of the Seattle-based Columbia Pacific Management, which operates hospitals and senior-housing facilities in Asia and the United States.	$25 million	creation of the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, a collaborative research program of the university’s medical school, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Seattle Children’s Hospital
5.	U. of Washington	Jeffrey and Susan Brotman	Mr. Brotman, who died in August, was a co-founder and chairman of Costco, the big-box-store company headquartered in Seattle. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the university and served on its Board of Regents.	$25 million	creation of the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, a collaborative research program of the university’s medical school, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Seattle Children’s Hospital
10.	U. of Connecticut Foundation	Peter J. Werth	founder, chief executive, president, and chairman of ChemWerth, a generic-drug development and supply company in Connecticut	$22.5 million (pledge)	$2.5 million to establish the Peter J. Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, with the remaining $20 million as a planned estate gift to endow the institute’s operations; the NextGen Residence Hall has been renamed the Peter J. Werth Residence Tower in his honor
11.	U. of San Diego	Donald R. and Ellie Knauss	Mr. Knauss is the retired executive chairman and chief executive of Clorox, which makes bleach and other household chemicals. He is chair of the university’s Board of Trustees.	$20 million	support for construction of a building for the School of Business; the building will be named for the couple
12.	Virginia Tech	Anonymous	alumni couple	$15.2 million	creation of a student-athlete performance center
13.	Southern Methodist U.	Nancy Ann Hunt Foundation (Ray L. and Nancy Ann Hunt)	Mr. Hunt is executive chairman of Hunt Consolidated, a Dallas holding group of oil-and-gas-exploration and production, refining, and other companies. He is a member of the university’s Board of Trustees. He and his wife are 1965 alumni.	$15 million	endowment for the Hunt Leadership Scholars Program
13.	U. of Washington	William H. Gates III and Melinda Gates	Mr. Gates is a co-founder of Microsoft.	$15 million	support for completion of a new classroom and lab building, which the university has named the Bill & Melinda Gates Center

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. 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.