News and analysis
February 24, 2020
Howard Buffett Promises $200 Million to Curb Cocaine Farming in Colombia (Gifts Roundup)
A gift from Howard Buffett (center) is intended to encourage farmers in rural parts of Colombia to switch from growing coca, the plant from which cocaine is derived, to legal crops, such as coffee and cacao to make chocolate.
A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:
Howard G. Buffett Foundation
Howard Buffett has pledged $200 million through his foundation to convince farmers in rural parts of Colombia to switch from growing coca, the plant from which cocaine is derived, to legal crops, such as coffee and cacao to make chocolate. As part of this pledge, the foundation has so far committed $12.1 million to Mercy Corps for its programs in Colombia that focus on land titling, rural development, and illicit coca substitution.
The elder son of the billionaire financier Warren Buffett, Howard Buffett owns farms in Illinois and Nebraska. He co-wrote the book Forty Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World, where he discusses how his farming experience informs his approach to philanthropy.
University of Michigan
Stephen Ross has given $100 million to lead a $300 million capital campaign to build the Detroit Center for Innovation. It will be built on the former site of the Wayne County Jail and will create a hub for academics and business space to attract new technology companies to Detroit.
Ross is the founder and chairman of the Related Companies, a New York real-estate development firm, and owner of the Miami Dolphins professional football team. With this gift, he has contributed more than $450 million to his alma mater. His earlier donations include $50 million in 2017 for career-development programs at the business school, which was named for him following a $100 million gift in 2004, and $200 million in 2013 for the Stephen M. Ross Athletic Campus and a collaborative learning program at the Ross School. Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas
Michael and Susan Dell have given a $30 million matching gift through their foundation for capital improvements and equipment, and to build a $113 million pediatric outpatient facility that will be called the Dell Children's Specialty Pavilion. It will house its pediatric programs in cardiovascular, neuroscience, and cancer specialties, and it is expected to open next year.
Michael Dell is the chairman and chief executive of the technology company Dell in Austin. The Dells helped establish the Austin children's hospital with a $25 million gift in 2007.
Georgia Institute of Technology
Bill and Penny George have pledged $18.8 million for its new Tech Square project. The George Tower, named in honor of the donors, will house the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, as well as other programs. It is scheduled to open in 2022.
Bill George, a graduate of Georgia Tech, is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic, in Minneapolis.
Purdue University
Marc and Sharon Hagle donated $10 million through their foundation to build a new facility for the university's bands and orchestras. Construction of the new building is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
Marc Hagle is president and CEO of Tricor International, and he also serves as president and managing director of Virgin Fest, which hosts music festivals throughout North America and the Caribbean. He graduated from Purdue with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1971 and a master's in business and industrial administration in 1972; he was a member of the marching band during his time as a student. Sharon Hagle is a real-estate investor and founder of SpacekidsGlobal, a charity for elementary students interested in science and space.
Greenwich Hospital
Donald and Mimi Kirk gave $5 million to establish an endowment to honor James Sabetta, the hospital's chief of infectious diseases. The gift will endow this position in infectious diseases and bolster the diagnosis and treatment of contagious illnesses.
Don Kirk is a former partner at Price Waterhouse who later became a professor of accounting at Columbia University's School of Business. He also has served as chairman of the hospital's Board of Trustees. Mimi Kirk has been volunteering at the hospital since the early 1990s, first pushing its Art Cart to deliver artwork to patients admitted to the hospital and, more recently, at the front desk.
Pathways to College
Oprah Winfrey has committed $5 million, including a $2 million matching grant, through her foundation to help the group develop a national model of an after-school program for students of color in poorer school districts and give them the support they need to enter college.
Winfrey is a billionaire media mogul who has appeared six times on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the people who give the most to charity.
To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated throughout the week.
M.J. Prest has been writing about major gifts, grant making, and executive moves for the Chronicle since 2004. Email M.J.