| Donor
| Donor State
| Recipient
| Recipient State
| Category
| Gift Amount
|
Paul G. Allen
Technology |
Washington |
Allen Institute for Brain Science (Seattle) |
Washington |
Science |
$300-million  |
| Allen Institute for Brain Science (Seattle) has received a pledge of $300-million over four years from Paul G. Allen to expand its research programs and double its staff. Mr. Allen is a co-founder of Microsoft and founder and head of Vulcan Inc., an investment company in Seattle. To date, he has donated $500-million to the institute. |
Fred W. Fields
Manufacturing |
California |
Oregon Community Foundation (Portland) |
Oregon |
Community foundations |
$150-million
Bequest |
| Oregon Community Foundation (Portland) has received a bequest of $150-million from Fred W. Fields, former president of Coe Manufacturing Company, in Tigard, Ore., to establish the Fields Fund to support education and the arts. He died in December of 2011. |
David H. Koch
Oil |
New York |
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) |
New York |
Museums and libraries |
$60-million |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) has received a pledge of $60-million from David H. Koch to renovate its Fifth Avenue plaza and fountains. Mr. Koch is executive vice president for Koch Industries, an oil and gas refinery in Wichita, Kan., that was founded by his father, Fred C. Koch. He is a trustee of the museum. |
Simons Foundation (James Simons)
Finance |
N/A |
U. of California at Berkeley |
California |
Colleges and universities |
$60-million |
| U. of California at Berkeley has received $60-million from the Simons Foundation, the personal foundation of James and Marilyn Simons, to establish the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing. Mr. Simons is the founder and chair of Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund in East Setauket, N.Y. |
Fielding family
Investments |
California |
U. of California at Los Angeles School of Public Health |
California |
Colleges and universities |
$50-million |
| U. of California at Los Angeles School of Public Health has received a pledge of $50-million from the Fielding family, to support faculty, students, and academic programs. One of these efforts will be to endow a chair in population health. Jonathan Fielding is director of public health at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and professor of health services and pediatrics at UCLA. He is making this gift along with his wife, Karin, and their sons, Andrew and Preston. The gift, worth about $50 million, is of stock associated with holdings in Dimensional Fund Advisors. The school will receive an income stream from the assets. |
Harrington family
Health products, Retail |
Ohio |
University Hospitals (Cleveland) |
Ohio |
Health |
$50-million |
| University Hospitals (Cleveland) has received a gift of $50-million from the Harrington family to accelerate the development of new drugs. The family owned Edgepark Medical, a mail-order medical-supply company in Twinsburg, Ohio, which they sold in 2010. |
Vance E. Kondon and Elisabeth Giesberger
Health care, Investments |
N/A |
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and San Diego Museum of Art |
California |
Arts |
$40-million
Bequest |
| The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and the San Diego Museum of Art have received a bequest of approximately $40-million in artworks from Vance E. Kondon, who was an obstetrician and gynecologist in private practice in San Diego, and his wife, Elisabeth Giesberger. The Museum of Contemporary Art received 30 works of contemporary art from the 1950s to the early 1980s. The San Diego Museum of Art received 48 German Expressionist paintings, drawings, and prints. Dr. Kondon died in 1997 and Ms. Giesberger died in 2011. |
Joshua P. Rechnitz
Family wealth |
New York |
Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation (New York) |
New York |
Other groups |
$40-million |
| Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation (New York) has received a pledge of $40-million from Joshua P. Rechnitz to underwrite the design and construction costs of a year-round indoor community recreation facility. Mr. Rechnitz is founder and chairman of the New York City Fieldhouse. |
David H. Koch
Oil |
New York |
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History (Washington) |
District of Columbia |
Museums and libraries |
$35-million |
| Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History (Washington) has received a pledge of $35-million from David H. Koch to construct a new dinosaur exhibition hall. Mr. Koch is executive vice president of Koch Industries, an oil and gas refinery in Wichita, Kansas that was founded by his father, Fred C. Koch. |
Richard Driehaus
Finance |
Illinois |
DePaul U. (Chicago) |
Illinois |
Colleges and universities |
$30-million |
| DePaul U. (Chicago) has received a pledge of $30-million from Richard Driehaus, founder of Driehaus Capital Management, an investment firm in Chicago, for academic programs in its College of Commerce. Mr. Driehaus earned bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration from DePaul in 1965 and 1970, respectively. He previously donated $3.45-million to the university in 2002. |
Joseph J. and Katherine O'Donnell
Advertising, Finance, Food and beverage |
Massachusetts |
Harvard U. (Cambridge, Mass.) |
Massachusetts |
Colleges and universities |
$30-million |
| Harvard U. (Cambridge, Mass.) has received a pledge of $30-million from Joseph J. and Katherine O'Donnell. Mr. O'Donnell is the founder of the Boston Culinary Group, a food-service corporation, and Belmont Capital LLC and owns Allied Advertising Agency. He earned a bachelor's degree in government in 1967 and a master's degree in business administration in 1971, both from Harvard. |
Leon G. Cooperman
Finance |
New Jersey |
Columbia Business School (New York) |
New York |
Colleges and universities |
$25-million |
| Columbia Business School (New York) has received a pledge of $25-million from Leon G. Cooperman to construct new facilities in Manhattanville. Mr. Cooperman is chairman and chief executive officer of Omega Advisors, a hedge fund, and former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, both in New York. Mr. Cooperman earned a master's degree in business administration from Columbia in 1967 and is a member of the business school's Board of Overseers. |
Jon and Mindy Gray
Finance |
New York |
U. of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) |
Pennsylvania |
Colleges and universities |
$25-million |
| U. of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) has received a pledge of $25-million from Jon and Mindy Gray to establish a center within the Abramson Cancer Center focused on the treatment and prevention of cancers associated with hereditary BRCA mutations. Mr. Gray is global head of real estate at Blackstone, an investment firm in New York. The Grays graduated from the university in 1992. |
Stephan Sharf
Transportation |
Michigan |
Oakland U. (Rochester, Mich.) |
Michigan |
Colleges and universities |
$21-million |
| Oakland U. (Rochester, Mich.) has received a pledge of $21-million from Stephan Sharf, retired executive vice president for the international business-development group at Chrysler. Most of the gift, $14-million, will benefit the School of Engineering and Computer Science, the William Beaumont School of Medicine, and the women's golf team. The remainder will go to campus operations and capital needs. |
Geri Brawerman
Family wealth, Law |
California |
Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles |
California |
Jewish federations |
$20-million |
| Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles has received a pledge of $20-million from Geri Brawerman to provide 10 needy high-school students a year with $10,000 college scholarships. The money will also support leadership development and activities to persuade young Jews to get involved in Jewish causes. Ms. Brawerman's late husband, Richard, was a lawyer in Los Angeles. She is a longtime donor to the federation. |
Leon G. and Toby Cooperman
Finance |
New Jersey |
Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest New Jersey (Whippany) |
New Jersey |
Community foundations |
$20-million |
| Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest New Jersey (Whippany) has received $20-million from the Leon and Toby Cooperman Family Foundation. Mr. Cooperman is the founder of Omega Advisors, a hedge fund, and former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, both in New York. |
Bruce Kovner
Finance, Investments |
New York |
Juilliard School (New York) |
New York |
Arts |
$20-million |
| Juilliard School (New York) has received $20-million from Bruce Kovner, founder of Caxton Associates, a hedge fund in New York, for its graduate-level historical performance program, which provides specialized study in music from the year 1600 to the early 19th century. The gift will enable students to receive full scholarships. Mr. Kovner serves as chairman of Juilliard's Board of Trustees. |
Martin Z. Margulies
Real estate |
Florida |
Lotus House (Miami) |
Florida |
Social services |
$20-million |
| Lotus House (Miami) has received a pledge of $20-million from Martin Z. Margulies, a real-estate developer in Key Biscayne, Fla., to establish an endowment at this domestic-violence shelter. Mr. Margulies is married to Constance Collins, co-founder and director of Lotus House. |
Helen Gurley Brown
Media and entertainment |
New York |
Columbia U. Graduate School of Journalism (New York) |
New York |
Colleges and universities |
$18-million |
| Columbia U. Graduate School of Journalism (New York) has received a pledge of $18-million from Helen Gurley Brown, former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, to establish the David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation, in collaboration with the Stanford U. School of Engineering. Most of the gift, $12-million, will support the institute's activities and to endow a professorship that will be the institute's East Coast director. The remainder will go to construction. Ms. Brown's late husband, David, was a film and theater producer, whose credits include the movie "Jaws." He earned a master's degree from the school in 1937. |
J. Robert Beyster
Defense contracting, Technology, Engineering |
California |
U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor |
Michigan |
Colleges and universities |
$15-million |
| U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor has received a pledge of $15-million from J. Robert Beyster, founder of Science Applications International Corporation, a defense-contracting company headquartered in McLean, Va., for its College of Engineering. The gift will endow a fellowship program for doctoral students and support entrepreneurship programs and facilities. Mr. Beyster earned bachelor's degrees in engineering physics and engineering math in 1945 and master's and doctoral degrees in physics in 1947 and 1950, all from the university. |
Patrick F. Cadigan
Real estate, Technology |
California |
Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) |
Massachusetts |
Colleges and universities |
$15-million |
| Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) has received a pledge of $15-million from Patrick F. Cadigan to name its alumni center. Mr. Cadigan retired as chief executive officer of Electronic Engineering Company of California and is a real-estate investor. He graduated from Boston College in 1957. |
Anonymous
Real estate |
N/A |
U. of Southern California (Los Angeles) |
California |
Medical research |
$13.3-million |
| U. of Southern California (Los Angeles), in Los Angeles, has received $13.3-million from an anonymous donor for its Urology Robotics Center of Excellence and a program to treat prostate cancer. |
Lisa and Richard Baker
Retail |
Connecticut |
Cornell U. (Ithaca, N.Y.) |
New York |
Colleges and universities |
$12-million |
| Cornell U. (Ithaca, N.Y.) has received a gift of $12-million from Lisa and Richard Baker for its real-estate program and for the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. Most of the gift, $11-million, will go to the program. The Bakers are owners of Hudson's Bay Company, a retail company in Toronto. Mr. Baker graduated from Cornell in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in hotel administration. |
Helen Gurley Brown
Media and entertainment |
New York |
Stanford U. School of Engineering (Calif.) |
California |
Colleges and universities |
$12-million |
| Stanford U. School of Engineering (Calif.), in Stanford, has received a pledge of $12-million from Helen Gurley Brown, former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, to establish the David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation, in collaboration with the Columbia U. Graduate School of Journalism. Ms. Brown's late husband, David, was a film and theater producer, whose credits include the movie "Jaws." Mr. Brown earned a bachelor's degree in communications in 1936. |
Patrick F. Cadigan
Real estate, Technology |
California |
Boston College High School |
Massachusetts |
Education |
$12-million |
| Boston College High School, in Boston, has received a pledge of $12-million from Patrick F. Cadigan to construct a new center for the arts and recreation. Mr. Cadigan retired as chief executive officer of Electronic Engineering Company of California and is a real-estate investor. He graduated from the high school in 1952. This is the largest gift the school has ever received. |
