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The Philanthropy 50: Americans Who Gave the Most in 2008
David G. and Suzanne Deal Booth
Rank: 6
Total amount committed in 2008: $300-million
Location: Austin, Texas
Source of wealth: Finance
Donors' background: Mr. Booth co-founded Dimensional Fund Advisors, an international finance firm in Santa Monica, Calif. Ms. Booth is a former art conservator who has restored paintings in the collection of the Georges Pompidou Center, in Paris; in the J. Paul Getty Trust, in Los Angeles; and in the Menil Collection, in Houston.
Mr. Booth, 62, and his wife, Suzanne, 54, pledged $300-million to the University of Chicago's business school. The couple did not earmark the money for any specific purpose. Officials at the school say that while they have not mapped out exactly how they will use all of the money, some of it will go toward supporting current and new faculty members. Other uses, they say, could include expanding the school's research centers and broadening its international branches beyond its current London and Singapore campuses.
Although they would not say whether any of the pledged amount has been paid, the Booths have arranged to give a portion of the money upfront, while the remainder will be paid out over a period of years from their family trust. Some of the pledge will come in the form of cash payments, and some in shares of stock in Dimensional Holdings, a parent company of Dimensional Fund Advisors.
Mr. Booth, who is a trustee of the university, earned a master's in business administration from its business school in 1971. He said he made the pledge because he wanted to repay the school for the intellectual epiphany he had there. Mr. Booth's insights into efficient market theories were influenced by several of the business school's professors, including Merton Miller, Frank Reilly, and his biggest influence, Eugene Fama, who became a mentor and helped Mr. Booth find his first job.
The first course Mr. Booth took at the business school, he recalled, was a finance course taught by Mr. Fama. "We didn't even have a textbook. It was all photocopies. Fama and Miller had gotten together and decided to write a textbook, and we had the rough draft," said Mr. Booth in a news release.
On the first day of class, Mr. Fama told his students that the course would be the most practical one they would ever take. "I was young and naïve enough to believe him, and it turns out in my case to have been true," said Mr. Booth.
About These Data
The giving figures listed for each individual are based on donations announced to date by the donors or their beneficiaries. In cases of bequests, most of the figures are estimates because the wills have not been settled. For news of gift announcements in 2009, visit the America's Top Donors database.
If you know about a recent gift of $1-million or more that should be added to this directory, please send a message to gifts@philanthropy.com.