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Below is a list of examples of women's various philanthropic gifts. The list is not meant to be comprehensive:
Women donors give to all causes, organizations and institutions. They create colleges - as Sophia Smith did in 1871 - and they create women's funds - as Peg Yorkin did with her $10 million gift in 1991.
They fund the study of girls' athletics - as Dorothy McNeill Tucker did in 1994 with a $1 million gift to the University of Minnesota and they fund art museums - as Beatrice Cummings Mayer did with $7.5 million to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.
They fund science - as Albina du Boisrouvray did when she gave $20 million to the Harvard School of Public Health to fund projects affecting children with AIDS and they help save the planet's environment - as Harriet Bullitt and Patsy (Priscilla) Bullitt Collins did when they decided to give most of their $375 million fortune to fund environmental causes.
They raise money for politics - as Merle Chambers and Swanee Hunt did when they created "Colorado's Million Dollar Day" to support the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign and they fund high tech projects - as the anonymous woman donor did when she gave $1 million to Pine Manor College to network academic, residential, library and administrative computing and to link the College to external information sources.
They fund performing arts - as Irene Diamond did with $10 million to the Juilliard School - and girls' schools, as Fiona Biggs Druckenmiller did with her $10 million gift to Spence.
Hope Abelson
1999 - A Chicago theatre producer, Ms. Abelson donated $1 million
to the Goodman Theatre (IL) to endow artistic programs.
Ealeen R. Abelle
2001 - Donated at least $1 million to the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign for a professorship in the College of Commerce and
Business Administration.
Joy Abbott
2007 - Made a pledge of $6 million to the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University (Philadelphia). The donation will help fund the new Center for Musical Theater. The pledge will come through rights and royalties from the estate of Ms. Abbott's late husband, George Abbott, the writer and director of Broadway musicals, including Damn Yankees and On Your Toes.
Lois Bates Acheson
2005 - Ms. Acheson, a 1937 graduate of Oregon State University, left a $21 million bequest to her alma mater for its College of Veterinary Medicine. The majority of the gift will support the college's endowment and $1.5 million will establish a professorship.
The veterinary college did not exist when Mr. Acheson was student at the University. But her love of animals motivated her to endow a scholarship for students of the college in 1980.
Ms. Acheson owned Black Ball Transport, a ferry service that runs from Washington State to British Columbia.
Helen Guinn Adams
2005 - Ms. Guinn, of Fayetteville, AK, left an $8.7 million bequest to the University of Arkansas (Little Rock) for Medical Sciences. She was a 1929 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and she owned a flower shop in conjunction with her husband, Roy. The gift came from the sale of Berkshire Hathaway stock.
Genevieve Albers
2002 - Donated $7.5 million through her estate to Seattle University for
scholarships and for the School of Business and Economics.
Georgina Albright
1996 - $1 million to Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio to
fund an outdoor tennis facility
Rushia Allen
1999 - A $2,000,000 bequest from the estate of Mrs. Allen of Tyler,
TX went to the Juliette Fowler Homes (TX) to endow services for youths
and elderly people. Mrs. Allen's husband, Robert, was a cotton seller
and a partner in a general store. Juliette Fowler Homes comprises three
residences for people over age 62 and a counseling center for emotionally
disturbed adolescents.
Margaret A. Allesee
1999 - Donated $1 million to endow a professorship in geriatric nursing
and rehabilitation at Oakland University (MI). She is a retired teacher.
Pauline M. Alt
2002 - Ms. Alt made a $1.5 million bequest to D'Youville College (Buffalo,
NY) for campus construction and renovations. She was a professor of education
at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.
Nan Hirschberg Altmayer
1999 - Donated $1 million to Spring Hill College (AL) to endow a professorship
in literature. She is the wife of Jay P. Altmayer, a businessman.
Carol A Ammon
2006 - Donated $8.5 million to Adelphi University (Garden City, NY) to create a professorship in childhood education in the School of Education, to endow scholarships for undergraduate and graduate education students, and to pay for campus improvements. Ms. Ammon, who earned an MBA at Adelphi in 1979, is founder and chairman of Endo Pharmaceuticals in Chadds Ford, PA.
Anne C. Anderson
2001 - Mrs. Anderson died in 2000 at the age of 94. She left $33.4 million
to the Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network to support the hospital's
teaching activities and programs. During her lifetime, she also gave the
hospital $1.5 million to endow a chair in Surgery. Mrs. Anderson's late
husband, Carol, was an engineer at Air Products and Chemicals, Trexlertown,
PA.
Audrey G. Anderson
2007 - Ms. Anderson, who died in 2006 at the age of 98, left a $1.2 million bequest to Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA to endow scholarships for art, business administration, math and English.
Barbara Dodd Anderson
2007 - Ms. Anderson pledged $128.5 million to the George School, a Quaker boarding school in Newtown, PA. Beginning in September 2007 the school will receive $5 million a year through a trust for 15 years and then $10.7 million annually for the last five years. Ms. Anderson's fortune comes from stock in Berkshire Hathaway. Working closely with school officials, Ms. Anderson decided that $2 million of the annual $5 million payment will endow financial aid for needy students and another $2 million will endow salaries for the school's faculty and staff members. A 1950 alumna of the George School, she said she donated the money to honor her late father, a professor who taught Warren Buffett, founder of Berkshire Hathaway Company, at Columbia University School of Business. She said she also donated the money to honor teachers at the George School who had comforted and supported her, when as a student in the 1940s, her mother had been ill. Ms. Anderson's previous gifts to the George School include a total of $9.8 million, including $5 million for the school's library.
Elizabeth Milbank Anderson
(1850-1921) Created the Milbank Memorial Fund in New York to fund children's
aid and community health centers
Miriam Jay Andrus
2002 - Ms. Andrus of Baltimore left a $2.3 million bequest to Johns Hopkins
University (Baltimore) to support a geriatrics center at Bayview Medical
Center. She earned her master's degree from the university in 1934.
Anonymous Woman Donor
2000 - A $3.5 million pledge from an alumna who wishes to remain anonymous
went to Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY for a scholarship
program for low-income Kentucky residents who have demonstrated leadership
at school or in the community.
Anonymous Woman Donor
2000 - The University of Wyoming has received a $2 million donation from
an anonymous female donor. The gift will be used to fund the University's
American Heritage Center, which researches and preserves Western political
documents. Specifically, $500,000 will be given to fund the Alan K. Simpson
Institute for Western Politics and $1.5 million will be put into a trust
fund.
Anonymous Woman Donor
1997 - $6 million to Wesleyan College in Georgia, a women's college, from
friends of three Chinese alumnae, the Soong sisters, to honor them. Soong
May-ling became Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Ching-ling was later known
as Madame Sun Yat-sen, and Soong E-ling became Madame H.H. Kung. The sisters
attended the college in the early 1900s.
Anonymous Woman Donor
1995 - $2 million to Pine Manor College (MA) to network academic, residential,
library and administrative computing and to link the College to external
information sources
Barbara Cox Anthony
2002 - Donated $3 million to endow a chair at the Orthopedic Research
Center, Colorado State University (Fort Collins). She is president of
the James M. Cox Jr. Foundation in Atlanta.
Martha B. Apgar
2006 - Donated $1 million to Stetson University (Deland, FL) to establish a lecture series.
Ms. Apgar's late husband, John N. Apgar, Jr. founded the Somerset Tire Service in New Jersey.
Lois Ripley Arnegard
2001 - A resident of Laguna Woods, CA, Ms. Arnegard donated $1.2 million
to Ripon College (WI) through a bequest to create a scholarship in honor
of her father, Edwin Arthur Ripley. She was a stock market investor who
died in December 2000.
Adrienne Arscht
2005 - Ms. Arscht, Chairman of Total Bank in Miami, FL made a $2 million pledge to Goucher College (Baltimore) to establish a program on ethics and leadership. The gift will honor her mother, Roxana Cannon Arscht, a judge in Delaware and a 1935 graduate of Goucher. Ms. Arscht made the pledge through the Arscht-Cannon Fund, part of the Delaware Community Foundation, in Wilmington.
Roxana Cannon Arsht
2001 - A retired judge for the state of Delaware, Mr. Arsht donated $2
million to the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) to create the
S. Samuel Arsht Professorship for corporate law in honor of her late husband.
He was a partner with Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell in Wilmington,
DE.
Bula Buck Arveson
2002 - A resident of Portland, OR, Ms. Arveson donated $5 million through
a bequest to establish an endowment at the Casey Eye Institute, part of
the Oregon Health & Science University. The gift will fund research
on macular degeneration.
Margaret K. Atkins
1999 - A $2 million gift from Mrs. Atkins endowed a program in health
care economics at the University of Florida. She is the widow of Louis
Atkins, a dentist.
Marie Aull
2003 - A naturalist, Ms. Aull donated $3.8 million through her estate
to the Dayton Foundation to augment the endowment of the Aullwood Audubon
Center and Farm. She died in August 2002.
Louise C. Averill
2000 - A resident of Mission Hills, KS, she made a $42 million pledge
to Kansas State University (Manhattan, KS) to establish the Louis C. Averill
Research Chair for feline diseases at the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Her late husband was a cardiovascular surgeon.
Helen Dupies Bader
2001 - Donated $1.3 million from her estate to the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas for research and treatment of arthriti
Mary Beth Baird
2004 - Made a $3 million bequest to the University of North Texas (Denton) for the department of biological sciences and a $1.2 million unrestricted bequest from the joint estate of Mrs. Baird and her husband, Mellon C. Baird, of Austin, TX. Mr. Baird was the former chairman of Delfin Systems, a technology company, and both he and his wife were graduates of the university.
Constance M. Baker
2001 - Donated $1 million to Indiana University at Indianapolis for the
Center on Philanthropy.
Mary Collier Baker
1999 - A resident of Des Moines, IA, and a schoolteacher, she made a $5.2
million bequest from her estate to Northern Virginia Community College
for unrestricted use. She was the widow of Raymond Baker, a director of
Pioneer Hi-Bred International.
2000 - Donated $1 million through her estate to the University of Sioux Falls, SD to endow car maintenance. Her husband, Raymond, was a director of Pioneer Hi-Bred International.
Norma Baker
1999 - Made a gift of $10 million to endow a research center at Iowa State
University, located in Ames, IA. A resident of Los Angeles, she made the
gift to establish the Laurence H. Baker Center for Bioinformatics and
Biological Statistics in honor of her late husband, a computer systems
developer and a 1954 I.S.U. graduate.
Kathleen Banbury
2002 - Donated $1 million through a bequest to the University of Toronto
to endow a chair for molecular research at the Faculty of Medicine. She
was a resident of St. Catharines, Ontario.
Dorothy Cruikshank Banckstrand
2003 - Made a $1.8 million bequest to Scripps College (Claremont, CA)
to endow a chair in gender and women's studies at her alma mater.
Gladys Barber
1999 - The University of California at San Francisco received a $6.5 million
bequest from the estate of Mrs. Barber of San Francisco, whose late husband,
Leland, was a dentist. The funds will establish two professorships at
the School of Dentistry.
Mildred Barber
2000 - Gave a $2.5 million bequest to University of Massachusetts Amherst
to endow an economics chair in honor of her mother, Helen Sheridan. A
former economist with the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, she
died in October, 2000 at the age of 78.
Lorraine Walker Bardsley
2001 - Donated $1 million to Russell Sage Colleges for renovation projects.
Marguerite S. Bardt
1999 - Left a $3,660,000 bequest from her estate to the University of
San Francisco to endow scholarships for undergraduates and at the School
of Law. She was the widow of Harry M. Bardt, a banker.
Eleanor Haselton Barrett
1999 - A resident of Westood, MA, she gave $5 million to Drew University
in New Jersey to endow scholarships. She is the granddaughter of the institution's
co-founder, Leonard Baldwin.
Candice Barrs
1999 - The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis received a $1 million gift
from Candice Barrs of Fort Lauderdale, FL, widow of Albert Barrs, a lawyer.
The donation will help construct the rehabilitation center and the cell-transplant
laboratory at the Lois Pope LIFE Center.
Ann Barshinger
2004 - Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA received $10 million from Mrs. Barshinger for a life sciences building. Her husband, Richard, was a 1943 graduate of the college and former owner of the Red Lion Milling Company. He died in 2001. Mrs. Barshinger's gift will match a $10 million grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the building.
Maryjane Mayhew Barton
2006 - Left $2 million from her estate to the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, PA. She was a professional harpist whose gift will endow a professorship in harp studies and scholarships for students. Ms. Barton, who died in 2005, graduated from Curtis in 1936.
Anne T. Bass
1989 - $4 million to build a new science center at Smith College (MA)
Wanda Bass
2006 - Mrs. Bass, chairman of the board of directors of the First National Bank & Trust Company of McAlester, OK donated $1 million to Oklahoma City University. The gift will be used to purchase and install wireless technology throughout the Wanda L. Bass School of Music. The music school was named after her for gifts she donated in 2002, including 105 Steinway pianos valued at $2.1 million. In addition, Mrs. Bass donated $400,000 for an endowment to maintain them. Later in 2002 she donated $8 million to help build a music center at the University, where she has been a trustee. Mrs. Bass' daughter graduated from the music school in 1979.
Virginia Basso
2004 - Bequeathed an estimated $13 million to Saint Meinrad Archabbey and School of Theology in St. Meinrad, IN. $4 million of the amount was designated for construction of a guest house and retreat center. The remainder will be disbursed over the next ten years.
Her husband Raymond, was an employee of Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis.
Sally Beaman
2001 - Donated $9 million to Belmont University (Nashville) for a student
center expected to be completed in 2003. Her late husband, Alvin G. Beaman,
founded the Beaman Pepsi Cola Bottling Company, a car dealership and several
Tennessee radio and television stations.
Audrey Jones Beck
1999 - A philanthropist and art collector, Mrs. Jones donated 47 Impressionist
and Post-Impressionist paintings to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Experts estimate their worth to be $80 million or more. The paintings,
which include works by Cézanne, Degas, Monet, and Renoir, have been on
display at the gallery since 1974 along with 23 other works previously
donated to the museum by Mrs. Beck and her late husband, John. Cash estimates
of the value of all 70 works have ranged from $150 million to $200 million.
Cornelia W. Ooms Beck
1999 - Donated $1 million to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities to
establish a professorship in education. She is a former classics instructor
at the university and widow of former professor Robert Beck.
Sarah (Sally) Pithouse Becker
1999 - Connecticut College received a $10 million bequest from the estate
of Ms. Becker, who died in January, 1999. A 1927 graduate of the college,
she was described by a college spokeswoman as a private person and a savvy
investor. The gift was designated for endowment.
Lucille Stewart Beeson
2001 - Mrs. Beeson was a resident of Birmingham, AL who died in January
2001 at the age of 95. She made an $11 million bequest to Samford University
in Birmingham to endow scholarships at the university's nursing school
and to establish the Dwight and Lucille Beeson Exceptional Scholars Program
named for Mrs. Beeson and her later husband, a retired insurance executive.
The scholars program will provide scholarships for 30 to 50 graduates
of Alabama high schools each year. Mrs. Beeson also bequeathed an estimated
$150 million to benefit 13 Birmingham-area charities, ranging from the
Salvation Army to the Baptist Hospitals Foundation, the Birmingham Humane
Society and the Alabama Zoological Society. In her will, she directed
that the donation be used to endow a perpetual trust, which will pay out
a portion of its interest to each of the groups.
Isabel Benham
2001 - Donated $5 million to Bryn Mawr College for building projects.
Elinor B. Tourville Bennett
2007 - Left a $6.8 million bequest to The University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT. The bequest will be used to create a fund to make available no-interest loans to help students pay for their education. Ms. Bennett, who inherited her money, died in 2006 at the age of 86.
Rosemary H. Benning
2004 - A native of Pebble Beach, CA, Mrs. Benning donated $10 million in unrestricted funds to the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, CT. She was married to Arthur E. Benning, who graduated from the school in 1930 and was the president of the Amalgamated Sugar Company in Utah.
Sadie F. Berkson
2007 - Ms. Berkson left a $1 million bequest to the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL. The gift will support scholarships and the Reserve Reading Room at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. Ms. Berskon died in 2006. Her husband graduated from the law school in 1918.
Alice Betts
2007 - Left a $1.2 million bequest to the University of California at San Francisco to support Alzheimer's-disease research and the study and treatment of arthritis. She died in 2006 at the age of 89.
Dorothy Beverly
2001 - Ms. Beverly donated $1.3 million through her estate to the University
of Evansville, Evansville, IN for scholarships.
Josephine Long Biddle
2004 - A Dallas resident, Ms. Biddle left a $1 million bequest to establish two chairs in age-related macular degeneration research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
Beatrice Stahl Biggs
2007 - Left a $1 million bequest to Hobart and William Smith Colleges (Geneva, NY) to endow a scholarship for students who demonstrate academic achievement and financial need. A 1926 alumna of the college, Ms. Biggs died in 2004 at the age of 100.
Marcia Billhartz
2007 - Donated $1 million to the Anderson Hospital (Maryville, IL) to support cancer research, patient care and services, education and community outreach at the hospital's cancer center. She is the widow of Warren Billhartz who was the founder and chairman of FCB Banks, Collinsville, IL. Mr. Billhartz died last year at the age of 79.
Ilse Bing
2001 - Ms. Bing, a New York photographer, made a $1.5 million bequest
to endow scholarships for chamber music students at Wichita State University,
KS.
Sallie Bingham
1995 - Contributed to the following organizations:
-
$10 million to create the Kentucky Foundation for Women
-
$3.5 million to Santa Fe Stages (NM) to support a new theater group company and its international festival
Beverly Bistline
1999 - Ms. Bistline, an attorney of Pocatello, ID, gave $2,500,000 to
help construct a performing-arts center at Idaho State University.
Lizzie Palmer Bliss
(1864-1931) A co-founder of the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Annette Bloch
2007 - Donated $1 million to the University of Kansas Hospital (Kansas City, KS) to support patient care at the hospital's new cancer center. Her last husband, Richard, co-founded H&R Block, the tax-preparation and financial services business in Kansas City, MO.
Frances Cherney Boggs
2001 - Ms. Boggs left a $2 million bequest to endow a scholarship fund
at the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, GA. A resident of Atlanta, GA, she
had inherited money from her family.
Albina du Boisrouvray
1993 - $20 million to the Harvard School of Public Health (MA) for the
AIDS Institute
Jane H. Booker
2003 - Through the charitable foundation established on her death in 1994,
Ms. Booker established a $2 million chair in canine genetics at the Seeing
Eye (Morristown, NJ). The organization trains dogs to aid blind people.
Ellen Warren Scripps Booth
(1863-1948) Co-founder of the Cranbrook Foundation in Detroit, Michigan
Lillian Booth
2003 - Donated $2 million to the Actor's Fund of America (New York) to
support the fund's nursing home and assisted-living facility in Englewood,
NJ. Her husband Ferris Booth was a private investment counselor.
Lila Mae Bornhoeft
2007 - Gave a $2 million unrestricted gift to the Swedish Covenant Hospital (Chicago, IL) to honor her late husband. Mr. Bornhoeft, who died in 2003 at the age of 92, was a retired accountant in Willamette, IL.
Betty Boutselis
2002 - Donated $2 million to St. Anselm College (Manchester, NH) in honor
of her late husband, John, an alumnus and surgeon from Columbus, OH. The
gift will endow a scholarship fund.
Ann S. Bowers
2002 - A former vice president of human resources at Apple Computer and
director of personnel for Intel, she donated $5 million to Grinnell College
(Iowa) to help renovate a science building. Her late husband Robert N.
Noyce co-founded Intel.
Ruth McLean Bowers
2006 - Donated $1 million to the Cancer Therapy and Research Center, San Antonio, TX for a new center for breast cancer research.
Lee Frances Bowler
2005- Ms. Bowler, who died in 2004, donated $1 million to Bacone College (Muskogee, OK). Her bequest will endow nursing student scholarships with priority given to American Indian students. Ms. Bowler, who died in 2004, lived in Washington, DC and worked in public relations for the United States Postal Service.
Mary Ann Boyd
2001 - Ms. Boyd, a former nurse at the Baptist Health Medical Center at
Little Rock left a $3 million bequest to the Baptist Health Foundation,
Little Rock AK. She left another $3 million to the Central Arkansas Radiation
Therapy Institute Foundation in Little Rock for unrestricted use. Her
late father, John Boyd, owned more than 3,500 acres of Arkansas timberland
and was a partner in the Boyd & Nichols General Store. The bequest
will support the medical center's cardiovascular program.
Eleanor Boyer
1997 - Approximately $8 million - the total of her New Jersey Lottery
winnings - to her church and local non-profits from this retired buyer
of chemicals and offices supplies. "No new car, no vacation,"
she said. "My life is no different. I've given it up to God. I live
in His presence and do His will and I did that from the start."
Helene K. Bracken
2002 - Donated $2.5 million from her estate to Sandhills Community
College for programs in nursing and the health sciences.
2000 - A resident of Pinehurst, NC who died in 2000 at the age of 88, Mrs. Bracken made a $2.4 million bequest to Sandhills Community College (Pinehurst, NC) for the college nursing and health-science programs. Her late husband was a physician.
Margaret R. Bradshaw
1999 - Gave $2 million to endow the Wellness Center at Memorial Hermann
Healthcare System in Houston, TX. She is the widow of B.J. Bradshaw, a
lawyer.
Deborah A. Bricker and Kelly A. Rosen
2001 - A $1 million gift went to the Goodman Theatre, Chicago from Mrs.
Bricker, chairman of the theater's board and her daughter, Kelly A. Rosen.
The gift will support a theater program for children.
Johnnie Cordell Breed
Has contributed to the following organizations:
-
$2 million to University of South Florida from her and her husband
-
$1 million to Columbia College of South Carolina, 1995, to be used in part to update technology across the campus
-
$1 million to Columbia College of South Carolina, 1993, to kick off the campaign and build a leadership center
Mary Link Briggs
1999 - Property valued at $2,000,000 from the estate of Mary Link Briggs
of Winston-Salem, NC, a retired nurse, went to the Davidson County Community
College (NC) for nursing scholarships. A second donation of property valued
at $2,000,000 went to the Medical Foundation of North Carolina for arthritis
research.
Mary Jane Brinton
1999 - A resident of San Francisco, Ms. Brinton, a tutor, donated $1,400,000
to establish a program for students who plan to teach in inner-city schools.
Dana Broccoli
2003 - A resident of Beverly Hills, CA, Mrs. Broccoli donated $2 million
to endow a chair in oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer
Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Mrs. Broccoli's late husband,
Albert, produced many of the James Bond Films.
Charlotte Killmon Wright Brown
2000 - A bequest of $6,080,000 from the estate of Ms. Brown of San Antonio
will go to Goucher College (MD) for scholarships. She was a private investor.
Hermione K. Brown
2001 - A lawyer at Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown in Beverly Hills, CA she
donated $1 million to Occidental College, Los Angeles to support literature
programs. The gift honors her husband, Louis M. Brown, a professor of
law, who died in 1996 at the age of 87.
2001 - Donated $1 million to Occidental College for programs in European literature.
Linda Brown
2000 - Linda Brown, of the Abbott and Linda Brown Foundation, has donated
$1.5 million to the Center of Achievement for the Physically Disabled
at Cal State Northridge. She is a CSUN alumna. The gift will be used to
build four pools for the Center, which assists 600 disabled students yearly
with therapy and training.
Catherine Wolfe Bruce
(1816-1900) $50,000 in 1889 to purchase a telescope for the Harvard College
Observatory and $124,275 over the remainder of her life
Carolyn Bryan and her late sister, Dorothy Warnell
2004 - Donated forest land valued at $6.1 million to the University of
Georgia (Athens) for the School of Forest Resources. Their father, Daniel
B. Warnell, was president of Pembroke State Bank, GA and he owned large
tracts of land. He was a state senator and representative.
Rebecca Randall Bryan
2001 - Ms. Bryan donated $1.8 million from her estate to Coastal Carolina
University for support of programs.
Doris Buffet Bryant
2000 - The older sister of billionaire investor Warren Buffet, Doris Buffet
donated more than $6.2 million to needy people through her Sunshine Lady
Foundation, based in Morehead City, NC.
Helen King Brydle
2003 - A resident of Hunting Valley, OH who owned an insurance agency,
Ms. Brydle made a bequest of approximately $4 million to the Animal Protective
League (Cleveland) for unrestricted use. Part of the gift - $3 million
- has already been received and the remainder, estimated to be more than
$1 million, will be distributed after Ms. Brydle's estate is settled.
Ms. Brydle also donated $3 million to the Holden Arboretum, Kirtland,
OH for endowment.
Natalie W. Buchman
1999 - A $1 million gift from Ms. Buchman, of Longboat Key, FL, went to
The Sage Colleges (NY) for capital improvements at the colleges' campuses
in Troy and Albany, NY. She is a teacher, artist and philanthropist.
Harriet Bullitt and Patsy Bullitt Collins
1994 - An announcement that they will give most of their $375 million
estate to environmental causes
Nettie Bullis
2001 - A resident of Macedon, NY, Ms. Bullis donated $12.3 million through
a bequest to establish the Bullis Advised Fund at the Rochester Area Community
Foundation, NY. She was a retired corporate secretary and investor who
died in 1979 at the age of 86.
Jan Bullock
2001 - A gift of $1 million from Mrs. Bullock of Austin, TX went to create
the Jan and Bob Bullock Distinguished Chair for Science Education. The
funds were form the campaign fund of Mrs. Bullock's late husband, Bob,
who served as lieutenant governor, comptroller, and secretary of the state
of Texas. He was also a member for the Texas House of Representatives.
Sandra Bullock
2005 - Ms. Bullock, the popular actress, donated $1 million to the American National Red Cross (Washington, DC) for relief efforts in response to the tsunamis disasters in Asia.
Frances P. Bunelle
2003 - The Community Foundation Serving Coastal South Carolina (Charleston)
received a $34 million bequest from Mrs. Bunnelle, who died in 2000 at
the age of 95. Her first husband was Charlie Peace, the owner of the Greenville
News-Piedmont. Ms. Bunelle designated the funds for organizations in Georgetown
County, reserving part of the money for annual gifts to the Pawleys Island
Rescue Squad in Pawleys Island and to the St. Frances Humane Society,
the Tara Hall Home for Boys, and the Tidelands Community Hospice, all
in Georgetown.
Elsie Hoffman Burkhart
2006 - Ms. Burkhart left a $1.5 million bequest to Medcenter One, Bismarck, ND to support rural health care programs, including cancer and cardiac research, as well as scholarships at the Medcenter One College of Nursing. Ms. Burkhart was a retired nurse at the San Diego Veteran's Administration Hospital.
Gatha (Gay) Burnett
1999 - University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas received
a $1 million bequest from her estate.
Audrey Steele Burnand
2007 - Donated $10 million to the Zoological Society of San Diego for its Elephant Odyssey complex, which will also include California condors, jaguars, lions, tapirs and other animals.
Susan Buckley Butler
2006 - A retired partner at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and based in Bermuda,
Ms. Butler donated $1 million to Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) to build archives documenting the history of women who taught and studied at the university.
2004 - Donated $3.65 million to Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) to endow a chair in the Center of Leadership Excellence. She is a retired consulting executive.
Marie M. Callahan
2005 - Ms. Callahan, a scientist and researcher in Rochester, NY, left a $1.5 million bequest to Nazarath College in Rochester NY for a reading clinic and other support. She had inherited much of her money from her brother, Arthur J. Callahan. A 1930 graduate of the college, she died in 2003.
Miriam Noble Camp
2004 - Made a $3.5 million bequest to St. Margaret's McTernan School Waterbury, CT.
Her husband, Orton, owned Platt Brothers and Company (Waterbury). Mrs. Camp died in 2003 at the age of 102.
Ann Campbell
2001 - Established the John B. Campbell Professorial Chair in the College
of Business at Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ. The $1 million gift honors
her late husband, a former chairman of Mannington Mills.
2001 - Donated $1 million to Rowan University for a chair in business.
Kelly and Shirley Campbell
2001 - Gave $1.5 million to Rowan University for the library.
Lee Edwards Candler
1999 - Left a total of $140 million to several non-profit organizations
in Atlanta, GA. She was the widow of Charles Howard Candler, Jr., a director
of Coca-Cola and a real estate executive who died in 1988. Mr. Candler's
grandfather, Asa, founded the Coca-Cola Company in 1891. Her bequest went
to the following organizations:
-
Georgia Institute of Technology - $50.5 million for athletics.
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The Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Atlanta - $16.87 million.
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The Atlanta Union Mission, the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation, the High Museum of Art, and the Salvation Army's divisional headquarters in Atlanta -$11.25 million each.
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The Howard School received $5.65 million.
Isabella Walton Cannon
2002 - Made a $1.4 million bequest to her alma mater, Elon University,
Elon, NC, for student programs.
Evelyn D. Cassatt
2008 – A high school teacher in Kansas, Ms. Cassatt left an $8.5 million bequest to the Wichita State University Foundation (Kansas). The donation will be used to renovate and equip the Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, endow professorships in the department of communication sciences and disorders, and support clinical services, faculty development and the Regional Institute on Aging. A private investor, Ms. Cassatt died in 2007.
Nelly Capelloni
1999 - City University of New York Graduate School and University Center
announced a $1.2 million bequest from the estate of Mrs. Capelloni of
New York, whose late husband, Mario, was an importer and exporter of pharmaceuticals.
The bequest will fund fellowships in the humanities.
Mariah Carey
1995 - $1 million from the singer to establish Camp Mariah for the Fresh
Air Fund, of which she is a director. The camp is located in Fishkill,
NY.
Marcy Peterson Carsey
2002 - Ms. Peterson donated $7.5 million to the University of New Hampshire
(Durham) to establish the Carsey Institute for Effective Families and
Communities. A 1966 graduate of the university, she is the producer of
such television shows as The Cosby Show and Roseanne.
Vivian J. Carson
1999 - A schoolteacher from St. Louis, Ms. Carson's $1 million bequest
to Southern Methodist University (TX) will endow scholarships for students
from the St. Louis area.
Deborah Carstens
2007 - Pledged $20.3 million to eight charities, including: $3.3 million each to the Arizona Community Foundation (Phoenix) and the YMCA of San Diego County, CA. Gifts of $750,000 apiece will go to The Telluride Foundation and the Denver Foundation, both in Colorado. The bulk of Ms. Carstens' donation will go to trusts created by her and her late husband, William. Ms. Carstens in the principal of Gunslinger Political Consulting in Washington and Phoenix.
Marie Fletcher Carter
2001 - A $1.5 million gift from Mrs. Carter of Bettendorf, IA went to
Cornell College (IA) to help build a new pedestrian mall. Her late husband
Archie was a civil engineer and graduate of the college.
Pauline Carter
2000 - A $2 million bequest went from Pauline Carter of Salem, NC to the
Winston-Salem Foundation, NC. A former employee at the R.J. Reynolds factory,
she made a fortune from the tobacco company's stock to establish the Sam
N. and Pauline H. Carter Fund, which will support programs in Winston-Salem.
Lucille A. Carver
2006 - A resident of Muscatine, IA, Mrs. Carver donated $5 million to the Center for Macular Degeneration at the University of Iowa Foundation, Iowa City to establish a non-profit genetic testing laboratory. The facility plans to develop a test for every gene known to cause a hereditary eye disease.
Betty Brown Casey
1996 - $18 million to the Washington Opera to enable the Opera to purchase
a former department store building as a new home for the opera company.
Berneice Castella
2000 - A gift of $6 million from the estate of Mrs. Castella went to the
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX for research
on aging. Mrs. Castella died in 1999. Her late husband founded W. F. Castella
& Associates, a San Antonio engineering company.
Dale Cavalletto
2003 - Donated $2.5 million through a bequest to the Scholarship Foundation
of Santa Barbara (CA) to create a law scholarship fund in honor of her
husband, George A. Cavalletto, who died in June 2000. Mr. Cavalletto was
founder of Cavalletto, Webster, Mullen, and McCaughey, in Santa Barbara.
Theresa M. Caygill
2006 - A resident of Walnut Creek, CA, Ms. Caygill donated $2.5 million to the John Muir Health Foundation (Walnut Creek) for a new building for the John Muir Medical Center.
Dolores Freeman Cerro
2005 - Ms. Cerro donated $21 million to nonprofit organizations in the area of Bakersfield, CA where she lived. Recipients include California State University at Bakersfield and St. Francis Church. Ms. Cerro and her husband, Victor, earned their money through banking and farming. Ms. Cerro died in 2004.
Isotta Cesari
2004 - A resident of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Isotta Cesari made a bequest of $1.2 million to The Nature Conservancy of Michigan for acquiring, protecting, and maintaining land in Michigan. Mrs. Cesari, who immigrated to the United States from Germany, via Italy, lived throughout the United States with her beloved husband, Lamberto, before settling in Ann Arbor in the 1960s, where he became a professor of Mathematics and she a writer, poet and translator. Her greatest ambition was to be a person of action.
Elizabeth Zopfi Chace and Malcolm G. Chace III
1997 - $1.4 million to Brown University (RI) to endow the women's basketball
head coaching position. Liz Chace is a Brown trustee and member of the
Corporation Committee on Athletics, vice president of the Brown Sports
Foundation and president of the Friends of Brown Women's Basketball.
Jennifer A. Chalsty
2006 - Donated $5.1 million to the Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, NJ to help build its Center for Learning and Teaching. Ms. Chalsty, a member of the Center's Board of Trustees, is a former high school teacher.
Helen Snell Cheel
2005 - Ms. Cheel of Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ left a $27 million bequest to Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY. Approximately $16 million will go to support the university's endowment. The remainder will fulfill previous pledges to campus facilities. Mrs. Chell also left $16.5 million to the Emma Willard School in Troy, NY for its endowment.
Ms. Cheel also left $5.7 million to the Canton-Potsdam Hospital in New York where her mother was a board member in the 1920s. The unrestricted bequest will be used for the hospital's endowment.
A 1923 graduate of Emma Willard, Ms. Chell inherited some of her wealth from her father, Bertrand H. Snell, a U.S. congressman and businessman who lived in Potsdam, NY. Ms. Cheel died in March, 2005. Her last husband, Harold W. Cheel, was an engineer and real estate developer.
Theresa M. Cheng
2007 - Ms. Cheng gave $2.5 million to Mercy Health Foundation, Oskosh, WI to endow a fund to support an international medical outreach program, the center's neurosurgery program, and other projects. Dr. Cheng is a neurosurgeon at Affinity Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh.
Marjorie Chester
2006 - Donated $1 million to the Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY to support a newly renovated education center. She is a freelance writer in East Hampton.
Marcene H. Christoverson
2006 - Donated $2 million to Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL to construct a building to house the college's programs in languages, literature and other humanities. A trustee of the college, Mr. Christoverson is chairman of St. John Associates in New York.
Mary Whipple Clark
1999 - The daughter-in-law of George Clark, an initial investor in Eastman
Kodak, Mrs. Clark was a resident of Rochester, NY and the widow of Donald
Clark, a financier. Bequests from her estate went to several organizations:
-
The University of Rochester (NY) received a $4.8 million bequest to endow a professorship in internal medicine and a musculoskeletal research fund at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, and for unrestricted use at the Memorial Art Gallery.
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$3.3 million from the estate went to the Rochester Area Community Foundation (NY) for endowment and an early childhood development program.
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$3.3 million went to the United Way of Greater Rochester (NY) for endowment.
-
Another $1,646,500 from her estate went to the Allendale Columbia School (NY) for pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade preparatory school programs.
Lucille Clarke
2003 - Made a $1.4 million bequest to the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers International (New York) to support scholarships for mechanical
engineering students. Her father was the late Charles W. E. Clarke, who
was vice president and director of the United Engineers and Constructors,
Philadelphia.
Michelle R. Clayman
2006 - Ms. Clayman donated $3 million to Stanford University in California to endow the Institute for Research on Women and Gender. Ms. Clayman earned an MBA at Stanford in 1979 and is the founder and managing partner of New Amsterdam Partners in New York City.
Harriet Jemima Winifred Clisby
(1830-1931) Founder, Women's Educational and Industrial Union, Boston
(1871)
Florence J. Clough
1999 - A $1.7 million bequest from the estate of Mrs. Clough went to the
Bethesda Hospital Foundation (MD) for the endowment campaign. She was
the widow of Sherman Clough, a pharmaceuticals executive.
Suzanne F. Cohen
2006 - Donated $2 million to the Baltimore Museum of Art. She is the former president of the Board of Trustees of the museum. Her gift will be divided equally to support the museum's new free admission policy and the endowment for contemporary art exhibits.
Cynthia Green Colin
$1 million to Radcliffe College (MA) for its capital campaign. The gift
was earmarked to strengthen communication between Radcliffe and its alumnae
and friends
Lois M. Collier
2006 - Mrs. Collier pledged $10 million to the Salvation Army of Greater New York, New York City for the expansion of two day-care centers in the Bronx as well as for programs and endowment. Her late husband was Reginald B. Collier, founder of Research Systems, an advertising research company in Evansville, IN. Mr. Collier died in 2004. Mrs. Collier is now the Chairman of Research Systems, also known as ARSgroup.
Adele S. Collins
2001 - A resident of West Bend, WI, Mrs. Collins made a $1.1 million bequest
to the University of Wisconsin at Washington County (West Bend). The gift
will establish a bachelor's degree program in nursing. Her husband, Curtis,
was a former president of First National Bank of West Bend, now M&I First
National Bank.
Elizabeth Jarvis Colt
A major nineteenth century philanthropist, Mrs. Colt gave the funds to
build the Colt Memorial Wing of the Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, CT.
Mary Ellen Lawrie Conney-Higgins
2001 - A resident of Chicago, she is a 1964 graduate of Seaton Hill College
(Greensburg, PA) and a director of the Cashel Foundation in Chicago which
supports programs that benefit children in poor families. She donated
$1 million to Seaton Hill to endow a scholarship fund for students who
demonstrate academic excellence and financial need.
Susan E. Cooper
2007 - Ms. Cooper donated $7 million to the Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bloomfield Hills, MI to support an anthropology hall, programs, salaries and operation. Ms. Cooper's father, Robert E. Flint, was the former chairman of Flint Ink in Detroit.
Helen Copley
Has contributed to the following organizations:
-
$1 million to the University of San Diego for a scholarship fund from the chairman of Copley Press and the publisher of the San Diego Union-Tribune, 1995
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$2.5 million to the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, 1992
Harriet Corbett
2000 - A Portland resident, she left $4.3 million from her estate to Lewis
& Clark College, Oregon, to help purchase an 18-acre estate. She was the
great granddaughter of Henry Winslow Corbett, a US Senator and founder
of First National Bank of Oregon.
Patricia Corbett
2000 - Ms. Corbett created a $2 million endowment for the Corbett String
Quartet in Residence program at Northern Kentucky University
1997 - $5 million to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from the Corbett Foundation to establish the Corbett Education Endowment; she said the gift was motivated by her concern over the declining audience for classical music
Camille Cosby
2005 - Ms. Cosby will endow 16 scholarships at the St. Frances Academy, Baltimore MD with a $2 million donation. More than 70 percent of students at the school live below the poverty line. The wife of the entertainer Bill Cosby, Camille Cosby attended an elementary school in Washington run by the order of nuns that now operates St. Frances Academy.
Ruthe B. Cowl
2003 - A resident of Laredo, TX, Mrs. Cowl donated $1 million to establish
a center on Yiddish culture and Jewish identity at the National Yiddish
Book Center, Amherst, MA. Mrs. Cowl and her late husband, Jack, owned
Cowl's Music Center, in Laredo.
Frances M. Craig
2006 - A 1949 home economics graduate of Iowa State University (Ames, IA), Ms. Craig left a bequest of $12 million to support a discretionary endowment for the university's president and will endow a professorship in chemistry. Ms. Craig was a retired secretary for Greyhound Bus Lines, in Elgin, IL. She received an inheritance from her parents in 1991. She died in November, 2006 at the age of 79.
Cindy Crawford
1993 - Profits from celebrity engagements to the University of Wisconsin
Children's Hospital, valued at more than $70,000, to help ease the lives
of families of children with cancer. Her brother died of leukemia when
he was four years old.
Mary Lucretia Wareham Creighton
1878 - Creighton University was founded by her $100,000 bequest.
Hazel M. Crismon
1999 - A $1 million bequest from Ms. Crismon went to the Guide Dog Foundation
for the Blind (NY) for unrestricted use. She was a resident of Denver
and a former flight attendant.
Claudia Crosby
1999 - Ms. Crosby, a philanthropist residing in Troy, Alabama, donated
$1.3 million to Troy State University (AL) to restore its theater and
for scholarships for students pursuing theater and fine-arts degrees.
K. Patricia Cross
2002 - Donated $2.5 million to Illinois State University, Normal, IL to
endow the Cross Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. She
is a professor emeritus of the University of California at Berkeley.
2001 - Ms. Cross donated $2.5 million to Illinois State University for
a chair in teaching and learning.
Marion Buckelew Cullen
2006 - Westminster Choir College of Rider University (Princeton, NJ) received a $5 million pledge from Ms. Cullen, for a new building. A retired civilian assistant with the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit, she was a trustee of the College from 1983 to 1989.
Phyllis E. Dake
2002 - Pledged $1.3 million to Albany Medical Center (NY) to endow a professorship
and a research fellowship at the Neurosciences Institute. A resident of
Saratoga, NY, she is executive vice president of Stewart's Shops, which
runs a chain of convenience stores and makes ice cream and other dairy
products. Mrs. Dake has Huntington's disease, a neurological disorder.
Verna B. Dauterive
2008 – Pledged $25 million to the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. The donation has not yet been allocated by the university. She is a retired principal of Franklin Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles. Ms Dauterive met her late husband, Peter, at USC. He was the president of the Founders Savings & Loan Association in Los Angeles.
Gladys Gwendolyn Davis and Vivian Davis Michael
2001 - Gladys G. Davis and Vivian D. Michael donated $18.4 million from
their estates to West Virginia University, Morgantown, where the two sisters
had attended school. Gladys Gwendolyn Davis, who died in January, worked
for the federal government in Washington before her return to Morgantown.
Vivian Davis Michael, who died in 1998, was a stock market investor and
a social studies teacher in Monogalia County, WVA. Of their total donation,
$16.2 will go for scholarships, professorships and other programs at the
agriculture school. The remainder will support the colleges of law and
creative arts and the university's libraries.
Katherine Wasserman Davis
1998 - $11 million to Wellesley College, her alma mater, to support Russian
studies
1996 - $10 million to fund the Katherine and Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Russian Studies at Harvard University
Aletha Tente Dawson
2005 - Ms. Dawson, who died in 2003, left $1.8 million to Samford University (Birmingham, AL) for student scholarships. Ms. Dawson inherited most of her money, which derived from Coca-Cola stock.
Mary Lee Lowe Dayton
2006 - A graduate of Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY), Ms. Dayton donated $5.5 million to her alma mater to renovate the Mildred R. Wimpfheimer Nursery School for research in early childhood education. Ms. Dayton's late husband, Wallace C. Dayton, was president of Dayton Development Company which ran the retail chain that became Target, based in Minneapolis.
2004 - Ms. Dayton donated $1.5 million to install air conditioning in the alumnae house at Vassar College.
Isoble (Robin) Degnan
2007 - Through her estate, Ms. Degnan pledged $1 million to the University of Missouri at Columbia, MO. A former classical concert pianist, Ms. Degnan graduated from the university in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in music performance. Her husband, James, was a real estate developer in Pasadena, CA. He died in 2003.
Christel DeHaan
2003 - Co-founder of Resort Condominiums International (Indianapolis),
Ms. DeHaan donated $8.6 million to the University of Indianapolis for
capital improvements and to endow a chair in the Center for Aging and
Community.
Countess Henrietta de Hoernle
2007 - Pledged $1 million to the Caldwell Theatre in Boca Raton, FL for its capital campaign to build a new theatre. The Countess' late husband, Adolf, was a German count.
Valerie Delacorte
2001 - A resident of North Palm Beach, FL, her late husband, George, founded
Delacorte Publishing. She made a $1 million donation for the George and
Valerie Delacorte Gallery, which will exhibit the museum's collection
of Renaissance and Baroque art. Ms. Delacorte is a trustee of the museum.
Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany
2000 - The Delany sisters of Mount Vernon, NY made a $1 million bequest
to create a scholarship fund at St. Augustine's College (NC) in honor
of their father, Bishop Henry B. Delany, a former vice-principal at the
college. The Delany sisters, who graduated from the college in 1910 and
1911, were co-authors of the book "Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters'
First 100 Years."
Zola Desmond
2001 - Ms. Desmond donated $2.2 million through her estate to Washburn
University for the support of programs.
Ruth DeYoung
2002 - Made a $1.6 million bequest to Westmont College (Santa Barbara,
CA) for an endowment and capital improvements. A secretary from San Mateo,
CA, she was an alumna of the college.
Irene Diamond
Has contributed to the following organizations:
-
"a huge gift" in the early 1990's to fund AIDS research, based in NYC
-
$10 million to the Juilliard School in New York
Betty Greer Dillon
2003 - A former bank teller in Mason City, IA who died in 2001, Ms. Dillon
left bequests in the form of Lee Enterprises stock, including: $2.1 million
to Cornell College (Mount Vernon, IA) to support scholarships for students
of communications); $1.56 million to Mercy Medical Center (Mason City,
IA) to be used to help cancer patients; and $1.56 million to the North
Iowa Area Community College (Mason City) to provide college scholarships
and loans for local high-school graduates.
Abigail Disney
1997 - $250,000 to the Harvard University Divinity School (MA) to create
the Olivia and Charlotte Hauser Endowment Fund in honor of her two daughters.
The purpose of the fund is to support scholarship and teaching that bring
analysis of gender and women's experience to bear in the examination of
the meaning and authority of biblical text.
Lillian Bounds Disney
Raised on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in Lapwai, Idaho, she donated
$100,000 to the Nez Perce tribe in 1996 to assist in their purchase of
ancient tribal artifacts. In May 1987, Mrs. Disney gave $50 million to
the Music Center of Los Angeles County for construction of the Walt Disney
Concert Hall. She was also a founder of the California Institute of the
Arts.
Eugenia J. Dodson
2006 - Ms. Dodson, who died in 2005 at the age of 100, left $23.5 million to the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She also left $12.1 million to the Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Ms. Dodson specified in her will that her money was to be spent on research focused on finding cures for diabetes and cancer. Her two brothers died from complications related to diabetes and Ms. Dodson herself survived a bout of lung cancer long before she died. A former beauty salon owner, she was the widow of J. Enloe Dodson, a civil engineer who owned a partial interest in a limestone quarry in Indiana. Ms. Dodson inherited $200,000 when he died and invested that money.
Lucille Donchess
1999 - Mrs. Donchess made a bequest from her estate for $4.1 million to
Wyoming Seminary (PA) for restricted use. She was the widow of Joseph
Donchess, former chief surgeon at U.S. Steel.
Margaret Donovan
2001 - A resident of Medina County, OH, she donated $1 million to the
University of Akron (OH) for a professorship for women in engineering.
Her late husband, Robert E. Donovan, was an executive with Babcock & Wilcox
Helen L. Dorris
1999 - Scripps Research Institute in San Diego received $10 million from
Ms. Dorris, a professor emeritus at San Diego State University, to create
a neurological research center in honor of her late brother, Harold. Researchers
there will concentrate on curing brain disorders.
Trudy Doyle
2001- Mrs. Doyle, a resident of Reno, NV donated $1 million to the Orange
Coast College Foundation, Costa Mesa CA to help build an arts building
that will house galleries and a cafe. Mrs. Doyle's late husband, Frank,
was a real estate developer.
Mary Anna Palmer Draper
(1839-1914) In 1886 she established the Henry Draper Memorial in honor
of her late husband to finance a study of stellar spectra at the Harvard
College Observatory, supported this for thirty years, and provided for
it in her will.
Fiona Biggs Druckenmiller
1996 - $10 million to The Spence School in New York City from this alumna
Peggy Dulany
1987 - The Synergos Institute
Esther Dunlap
1999 - The John Hopkins University (MD) received a $1,160,000 bequest
from the estate of Mrs. Dunlap of Bryn Mawr, PA to endow research in pediatric
endocrinology at the Children's Center.
Catherine Pelton Durrell
1999 - A $2.5 million bequest from the estate of Catherine P. Darrell
of Millbrook, NY went to Vassar College (NY) for unrestricted use. She
worked for 30 years at General Electric.
Georgia Easton
2003 - Made a $3 million bequest to the Community Foundation of Waterloo,
Cedar Falls and Northeast Iowa (Waterloo) to establish a fund for art
and cultural programs, historic preservation and health programs for children
and adults. Her late husband, James, had been an investor and member of
the Board of Directors of the Waterloo Savings bank. An interior designer,
Mrs. Easton died in January 2003.
Elise Elliott
2003 - Donated $4 million through a bequest to Pacific University, Forest
Grove, OR for programs and scholarships in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Ms. Elliot died on March 18, 2003.
Katherine D. Elliott
2006 - Ms. Elliott donated $1.25 million to construct a studio arts building at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY. She is chief operating officer of Peter Asset Management, a hedge fund in New York.
Lottie B. Ellis
2000 - A bequest from the estate of Miss Ellis provided $3.3 million to
the Blue Grass Community Foundation (KY). A discretionary fund will provide
scholarships for students from Boyle County, KY who wish to attend colleges
and universities in the state. Miss Ellis was a hotel bookkeeper and an
investor.
Edith Erker; Katharine Erker
2005 - Wichita State University (KS) received a $1.1 million bequest from the Erkers'estates to endow a professorship. Edith, who died in 2000, worked for several law firms and for an oil-and gas-drilling company. Her sister, who died in 2002, worked as a secretary for a local construction company.
Jeane Erley
2004 - Donated $2 million to the University of Illinois Foundation (Urbana) to create a leadership development program in the College of Business on the Urbana-Champaign campus.
Gloria Estefan
1996 - $250,000 to the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis (FL) to go toward
construction of a new facility on the University of Miami campus that
will be dedicated to spinal cord injury. Ms. Estefan broke her back in
a near-fatal 1990 car crash.
Dorothy Leib Harrison Wood Eustis
(1886-1946) Founder, "Seeing Eye" to train dogs to assist blind
people
Barbara Humes Euston
2006 - A resident of Pittsfield, MA, Ms. Euston left a $4 million bequest to Miss Hall's School. She was a 1929 graduate of the school. Ms. Euston left a $2 million bequest to the Berkshire Botanical Garden (Stockbridge, MA) for endowment. She was a past board member of the Garden. She also bequeathed $2 million to the Berkshire Medical Center (Pittsfield, MA) for endowment. Ms. Euston had served on the board of the Medical Center and as a volunteer at the hospital.
Kathrine R. Everett
1999 - The law schools at Duke University and the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill will share $14 million from the estate of Kathrine
R. Everett, a lawyer who died in 1992 at the age of 98. Neither university
has disclosed the amount they received citing family wishes. Mrs. Everett's
career spanned seven decades and she was the first woman to argue and
win a case before the North Carolina Supreme Court. The U.N.C. School
of Law will use a portion of the gift for scholarships, international
programs, and renovations. Duke's share will support the Law School's
Center on Law, Ethics, and National Security - a program established by
Mrs. Everett's son, Robinson - and other projects.
Marian Falk
2002 - Mrs. Falk donated $1 million to Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore)
for biomedical engineering research. Her late husband, Ralph, owned Baxter
International, a medical supply company in Deerfield, IL.
Sally Fantle
2004 - Ms. Fantle, whose family established Fantle's department store in Sioux Falls, SD left a $1.8 million bequest to Augustana College (Sioux Falls). The gift will go to the Center for Western Studies and for endowment. Ms. Fantle died in 2002. She was 93.
Leonie Faroll
2005 - Ms. Faroll, who died in 2003, left a $27 million bequest to Wellesley College, MA to renovate the college's power plant and science center. The bequest will also be used to buy equipment for the center. A 1949 alumna of Wellesley, Ms. Faroll worked as a marketing analyst at Scudder, Stevens & Clark in New York. Her wealth was derived from investing her earnings and an inheritance.
Elsa Farr
2006 - Ms. Farr left a bequest of $20 million to the Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network in Pennsylvania where she and her spouse had been treated. The gift will support professional development for nurses. Ms. Farr, who died in 2006 at the age of 96, was the widow of Harvey Farr, a co-founder and former president for the Farr Brothers and Company shoe stores, headquartered in Allentown, PA.
Louise Ferguson
2007 - Ms. Ferguson, who died at the age of 90 in 2006, left a $5 million bequest to the University of North Dakota Foundation, Grand Forks, ND. The bequest will support scholarships. Her husband, Bill, was a real state manager for the Atlantic Richfield Oil Company in Los Angeles. He died in 1978.
Alice Fiedler
2001 - Gave $8 million for the support of programs at Kansas State University.
Barbara Finberg
1997 - $1 million to Stanford University to fund the director's position
at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender. She is the retired
vice president of the Carnegie Corporation.
Cynthia Gelsthope Fish
2006 - Ms. Fish, a community volunteer, gave $1 million to renovate campuses for the Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY. The gift will renovate campus space for the William Smith Centennial Center for Leadership, which will offer fellowships, scholarships, programs, and other resources. Ms. Fish graduated from William Smith College in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.
Mary Celestia Fisher
2005 - Ms. Fisher donated $8.5 million to the Children's Medical Center in Dallas to create a fund to aid in hiring pediatric physicians and to train young physicians to become clinical researchers. A resident of Frisco, TX, Ms. Fisher died in 2004. She was the founder of Consulting Actuarial Practice in Dallas.
Lawton Wehle Fitt
2002 - A resident of London, Ms. Fitt donated $1 million to her alma mater,
Brown University (Providence RI) to endow an artists-in-residence program.
Jane Fitzpatrick
$1 million to the Seiji Ozawa Chair at Tanglewood/Boston Symphony Orchestra
Beverly Thomsen Fleischmann
2007 - Left a $1 million unrestricted bequest to Green Mountain College, Poultney, VT. The gift will support the college's capital campaign. Ms. Fleischmann died in 2006 at the age of 85. She graduated from Green Mountain College with an associate/s degree in liberal arts in 1939. She was the co-owner of Frech Funeral home in Dumont, NJ.
Emily Flory
2001 - A $1 million pledge from Ms. Flory of Portola Valley, CA will go
to Manchester College, North Manchester, IN to help expand the college
science center. Her late husband Paul was a professor at Stanford University
and he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1974.
Edna Flower
2002 - A retired employee of Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati,
she made a $2 million bequest to the Greater Cincinnati Foundation (OH)
for unrestricted use.
Nancy D. Floyd
2001 - Ms. Floyd donated $1 million to Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster,
PA to support the college's center for public policy analysis, which has
been renamed for her. A resident of Sunriver, OR, she is the co-founder
of Nth Power Technologies, a venture capital company in San Francisco.
Dorothy Flynn
2001 - Donated $1.65 to Bennington College for scholarships for artists
in the teacher-education program.
Florence Foerderer
2001 - Left $21 million to three charities when she died in 1999 at age
73. She left $7 million each to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia;
Gallaudet University in Washington; and the Philadelphia Zoo. She inherited
her money from her grandfather, Robert J. Foerderer, who founded the Vici
Leather Dressing factory in Philadelphia.
Elizabeth Fogg
1892 - an estate gift to build the Fogg Museum at Harvard University to
house "works of art of every description and the education and enlightenment
of the people."
Jane Fonda
1994 - $1 million to The Emma Willard School in upstate New York for scholarships
2001 - Donated $12.5 million for the Harvard Center on Gender and Education at Harvard University. Ms. Fonda, a former actress and fitness instructor, established the center at the graduate school of education that will study the ways in which children's development and learning are influenced by their gender, and will endow a professorship in gender studies at that center.
Susan L. Foote
2006 - Ms. Foote made a $7 million unrestricted pledge to the School of American Research, Santa Fe, NM for operational support and for the endowment. She is the outgoing chair of the Board of Managers at the School.
Hallie E. Ford
2007 - A former elementary school teacher and co-founder of Roseburg Forest Products,
Ms. Ford donated $15 million to Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, OR. The gift will establish the Institute for Visual Education and will create new graduate programs in the fine arts.
She also donated $8 million to Oregon State University, Corvalis, OR to help build the Center for Healthy Children and Families and to recruit a director for the new institution. Ms. Ford made the latter donation shortly before she died on June 4 at the age of 102.
Josephine Ford
2006 - Mrs. Ford, who died in June 2005, left a bequest of $50 million to the College for Creative Studies in Detroit for its endowment. The only granddaughter of Henry Ford, who founded the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, MI, Mrs. Ford left $20 million to the Detroit Institute of Arts. The gift will go toward an endowment, a new building, and to museum operations. She also left the Institute a collection of artworks and antique furniture valued at $14.7 million. Mrs. Ford left $3.5 million to the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Topsham, ME near where her family spent summers on the coast of Maine. She also left smaller gifts totaling $2.7 million to the above groups as well as to the Detroit Historical Society and other nonprofit groups.
1999 - Among three donors who pooled gifts totaling $50 million to benefit the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Institute would not divulge how much each donor provided.
1997 - $20 million to the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, the largest gift ever made to the private college of art and design. Mrs. Ford was the wife of the late Walter Buhl Ford II, chairman of the board of the school. She made the gift in his honor.
Helen Ginsburg Forman
2006 - Left a $5.1 million bequest to the Rhode Island College, Providence, RI. A retired special education teacher and private investor, Ms. Forman made her bequest to benefit scholarships for dance, music and theater students and to support an endowment for a music series and the college's library. She died in 2005 at the age of 93.
Dorothy Forsythe
1999 - A resident of Jacksonville, FL, Ms. Forsythe donated $1 million
to Florida Southern College for a professorship in advertising. She is
the widow of George (Skeets), former vice president of the Jacksonville
division of Publix Super Markets.
Pauline Foster
2006 - Donated $5 million to endow a professorship at the Rady School of Management, University of California at San Diego. Part of the gift will fund a new building. Ms. Foster is President of the Foster Investment Group in San Diego.
Evelyn French
2006 - Left a $1.3 million bequest to the Foothill Country Day School, Claremont, CA for endowment. She was a retired first grade teacher at the school who died in 2004.
Marjorie M. Freund
2001 - Ms. Freund of Washington, DC was a retired librarian at the Library
of Congress and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. She made a $2.5
million bequest to endow a scholarship fund at Lawrence University, Appleton,
WI.
Ruth Freyberger
2002 - Made a $1 million pledge to Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
to endow a chair in Pennsylvania German studies. She is a retired professor
of art education at Illinois State University.
Adeline R. Friedman
2002 - Left a $1.4 million bequest to the University of La Verne (CA) to support construction at the college. A resident of North Hollywood, CA and former lawyer, she graduated from the university's College of Law in 1979.
2000 - made a $1.2 million bequest to the University of La Verne (CA) for unrestricted use at the College of Law.
Carol Vinkemulder Frobish
2005 - A 1949 graduate of Columbia College (MO), Ms. Frobish donated $3.1 million through a bequest to support scholarships for female students and other needs. She died in 2003. Ms. Frobish was the owner of a Chevron Corporation station in San Clemente, CA.
Gwen Frostic
2002 - Ms. Frostic, writer and publisher/owner of Presscraft Papers, Benzonia,
MI donated $13 million to her alma mater, Western Michigan University
for support of programs. Ms. Frostic died in 2001.
Carrie Bamberger Fuld
(1864-1944) She and he brother, Louis Bamberger, gave $8 million to create
the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, where Albert Einstein
was the first professor.
© 1998 - 1999, Ann Castle
© 2000-2009, The Regents of the University of Michigan