A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:
Colgate University
Six alumni gave Colgate a total of $105 million to support the construction of an extensive student housing neighborhood, called Lower Campus, that will include renovated student housing, several new residence halls for juniors and seniors, a park and other green spaces, and a building for events and gathering called the Social Center.
Chief among the gifts is $50 million from Peter Kellner, a retired financier and former managing director at the investment giant Morgan Stanley & Company. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Colgate in 1965 and started his career as a trainee at Bank of America in 1967.
Jean-Pierre Conte, who graduated from Colgate in 1985, gave $25 million to support the construction of the Social Center. Conte is chairman and managing director of the San Francisco private equity firm Genstar Capital. Among the other alumni who gave large gifts to back the construction of Lower Campus are 1981 Colgate graduates Becky and Christopher Hurley, who gave $10 million. Stephen Sprague, a 1972 graduate, also gave $10 million, as did Robert Fox, a 1959 graduate.
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Joyce Farmer and her family gave $60 million through her Farmer Family Foundation to support the construction of a new music and entertainment venue, which will be named the Farmer Music Center. The new venue is scheduled to open in 2027.
Farmer is a longtime Cincinnati philanthropist and the widow of Richard Farmer, who led the Cintas Corporation, a Mason, Ohio, company that supplies businesses with uniforms, cleaning supplies, safety products, and safety training courses. Richard Farmer founded what would become Cintas in 1968 and took the company public in 1983. He started his career working for his father’s company, Acme Wiper and Industrial Laundry. He died in 2021.
University of Chicago
Steven and Priscilla Kersten pledged $25 million to support research and other programs within the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice’s Urban Education Institute. The institute will be renamed for the Kerstens. The donation will also be used to establish and endow three faculty chairs in the Crown Family School.
Steven Kersten is CEO of WaterSaver Faucet, a manufacturer of laboratory faucets, valves, and related products, founded by his family almost 80 years ago. He is also CEO of two other Chicago companies: Guardian Equipment, a manufacturer of emergency eyewash and shower products; and Lakeview Property Investors, a real estate management company. Kersten earned a law degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1980.
Heinz History Center
Carole and Daniel Kamin gave $11.5 million to support free admission to the history center and its Fort Pitt Museum for children 17 and under, including school groups. The money will also help pay for the construction of an 80,000-square-foot addition that will include classrooms, a theater, and more exhibition space. The new wing is scheduled to open in 2028.
Daniel Kamin leads Kamin Realty Management, a commercial real-estate firm in Pittsburgh that was founded by his grandfather Herman Kamin in 1916. The couple have given significant sums to Pittsburgh-area nonprofits and appeared on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list in March for $90 million they gave to Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Lois Pope gave $10 million to establish the Lois Pope Neuroscience Research Fund, which will support research into Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological and neurodegenerative diseases and disorders. Pope is giving the money to honor her daughter, Lorraine Pope, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease before her death earlier this year.
The donor is the widow of Generoso Pope, the founder of the National Enquirer tabloid newspaper. She founded three charitable organizations: Leaders in Furthering Education (LIFE), the Lois Pope LIFE Foundation, and the Disabled Veterans LIFE Memorial Foundation.
Part of Pope’s gift will be used to add Lorraine Pope’s name to the Lois Pope Laboratory Wing, a section of the Miller School’s Lois Pope Life Center, a research and treatment center focused on spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries and neurological diseases. The university established the center with a $10 million gift from Pope in 2000, one of several significant gifts she has given the university over the years.
To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated regularly.
