A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:
Gilmour Academy
Nick and Lorie Howley pledged $28 million through their Howley Foundation to endow scholarships for 48 students annually in grades seven through 12. The money will also pay for the construction of a new student center and dining hall, as well as renovations of the private school’s Tudor House and Tudor Gardens.
Nick Howley founded TransDigm Group, a Cleveland company that produces aerospace and other industrial components. Lori Howley is a horticulturist who worked for 15 years in the education department of Longwood Gardens, a nonprofit botanical garden in Kennet Square, Pa. The couple’s children, Michael and Meg Howley, graduated from the high school in 2001 and 2003, respectively.
University of Utah
Clay and Marie Wilkes gave $20 million through their Red Crow Foundation to create the Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy, where researchers from across university departments will study the potential of different public-policy and business solutions to curb the threats to human life brought about by climate change.
Clay Wilkes founded Galileo Financial Technologies, a Salt Lake City company that provides payment-processing and other financial-services technologies to digital banking companies. The business was acquired by the online personal-finance company SoFi for $1.2 billion in 2020.
The couple’s foundation primarily supports education programs and efforts to fight climate change. The grant maker is named for Marie Wilkes’s third great-grandfather, a chief of the Blackfeet Nation tribe.
Brown University
Samuel and Ann Mencoff gave $10 million to endow the position of vice president for athletics and recreation, which will be known as the Chancellor Samuel M. Mencoff ’78 Vice President for Athletics and Recreation. The gift will also support the implementation of a new strategic plan to enhance the university’s Division of Athletics and Recreation. Samuel Mencoff currently serves as chancellor of the university. He is a founding partner and co-CEO of Madison Dearborn Partners, a private-equity firm in Chicago. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology from Brown in 1978.
The couple are longtime donors to the university. In 2018 they gave Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School $50 million to support biomedical research and the development of new treatments and cures for disease. They have also given large gifts to support the refurbishment of Brown’s ice-hockey auditorium, the construction of the new Center for Lacrosse and Soccer, and a number of academic programs and professorships. The Mencoffs appeared on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors in 2017 and 2018.
Washington University in St. Louis
Sam and Marilyn Fox pledged $10 million through their Sam and Marilyn Fox Foundation to permanently endow Sam Fox Ambassadors Graduate Fellowship Program, which provides full-tuition waivers for 10 graduate candidates each year. Fellows are drawn from both the Graduate School of Art and the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design.
Sam Fox founded Harbour Group Ltd., a holding company that buys manufacturing, distribution, and other types of companies. He served as U.S. ambassador to Belgium from 2007 to 2009. The couple gave the university $10.5 million in 2019 to establish the graduate fellowship program.
Milwaukee Area Technical College
Joe and Ellen Checota gave $5 million to support scholarships for students in the college’s short-term trade and technical programs. The scholarships provide full tuition to students who require technical diplomas and certificates to advance their careers in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, information technology, and health care.
Joe Checota is chairman and CEO of Landmark Healthcare Facilities, a real-estate developer of outpatient medical centers. Ellen Checota is an artist.
City College of New York
Susan and Rick Goings gave $1 million to establish a national speaker series within the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. The series will be named the Rick and Susan Goings Conversations in Leadership and will feature discussions with leaders from a wide range of professions.
Rick Goings is chairman emeritus of Tupperware Brands, and Susan Goings is a former broadcast journalist and a co-founder of the World Federation of Youth Clubs, an international youth-development organization headquartered in Orlando.
The couple said in a news release that they are giving the money to honor their late friend Gen. Colin Powell, a decorated U.S. Army general who served as U.S. secretary of state from 2001 to 2005 and as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993. He was the first Black person to fill those positions. Powell died last year at 84.
To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated regularly.