A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Aileen and Brian Roberts and their family gave $125 million toward the construction of a new in-patient tower and the renovation of an existing hospital on Civic Center Boulevard, in Philadelphia.
The expanded facility will house 30 procedure and imaging rooms for pediatric specialties, 700 fully private rooms for patients, and new spaces for fitness, relaxation, and entertainment for families who face extended hospital stays while their children are under treatment. The new complex, which will be named Roberts Children’s Health, is expected to open in 2028.
Brian Roberts is the chairman and CEO of the telecommunications company Comcast, which was co-founded by his late father, Ralph Roberts. Aileen Roberts is a former member of CHOP’s Board of Directors. The couple previously gave the hospital $25 million for pediatric genetics research in 2016.
University of Delaware
Kathleen and Robert Siegfried Jr. committed $71.5 million to match gifts from other donors to build Siegfried Hall, a new student and academic building for its Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics.
In addition to classroom and meeting spaces and a student advising center, the facility will house the new Siegfried Institute for Leadership and Free Enterprise, an innovation hub for students that will focus on the principles of leadership, limited government, rule of law, and free enterprise.
The couple are both alumni of the university. Kathy Siegfried graduated in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Rob Siegfried earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and accounting from Lerner College in 1981. He went on to become founder and CEO of the Siegfried Group, a national leadership advisory firm for accountants and financial professionals, which is also contributing an undisclosed amount toward the pledge.
Fairfield University
John Charles Meditz gave $50 million to enhance academic programs and interdisciplinary learning at the Catholic liberal-arts university. Fairfield has named the John Charles Meditz College of Arts and Sciences in honor of the gift, effective July 1.
Meditz graduated from the university with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1970. He co-founded Horizon Kinetics in 1994 and currently serves as the holding company’s managing director and senior portfolio manager.
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Ellen and Joe Checota have committed $15 million to bolster the endowments of these three Wisconsin arts groups. The couple will match up to $5 million in endowment gifts to each organization from other donors through the end of 2026.
Ellen Checota is an artist and jewelry designer. Joe Checota is the founder and executive chairman of Landmark Healthcare Facilities, a national real-estate developer of medical facilities with headquarters in Milwaukee.
University of Virginia
Cathy and Glen Miranker pledged $1 million to establish the Terry Belanger Endowed Scholarship, which will cover full-cost tuition scholarships and travel stipends for students in its Rare Book School.
The scholarship is named for a retired professor and honorary curator of special collections at the school. In 1972, Belanger founded the Book Arts Press at the Columbia University School of Library Service to create a bibliographical laboratory for rare-book librarians and antiquarian booksellers. He moved the program to the University of Virginia in 1992, where he taught until his retirement in 2009.
Glen Miranker retired in 2004 as chief technology officer at Apple, where he oversaw hardware development. The Mirankers are rare-book collectors. Their pledge will match $1 million in gifts from other donors to the scholarship fund through September 2026.
To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated throughout the week.
