A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:
San Diego Foundation
Jay Kahn left $100 million to the foundation to support a range of nonprofits including music-education groups and nonprofits that help people experiencing homelessness. Of the total, $86 million will establish the Jay Kahn Endowment Fund to support San Diego area charities far into the future.
The first grants from the Kahn fund were awarded last week to 10 San Diego music-education groups that work with children in underserved or low-income communities. Each organization received an unrestricted grant of $150,000.
Kahn was a classical musician, an entrepreneur, and a private investor. He played clarinet in symphonies at the University of California San Diego and the University of San Diego. He worked in the clothing industry and retired early to manage his personal investment portfolio, which included early investments in Price Club and Apple. He died last year at 90.
University of Utah
Steve and Jana Smith pledged $65 million through their Stena Foundation to launch the Stena Center for Financial Technology. The Smiths plan to pay the pledge over the next 10 years.
The center will be the home of the university’s new undergraduate and master’s degree programs in financial technology and will house industry-sponsored labs, a start-up business incubator, venture funds, and fintech-focused certificate programs. Reinvestments from the venture funds are expected to support the center in perpetuity.
Steve Smith co-founded Finicity, a financial software company in Murray, Utah, and is a founding member and current co-chair of the Financial Data Exchange, a nonprofit organization that promotes having a common standard for data sharing in the financial-services industry.
Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Foundation
Ken Griffin gave $25 million through his Kenneth C. Griffin Charitable Fund to help build a new surgical tower that is scheduled to open next year and will be named for the donor. A portion of the gift will also support Nicklaus Children’s four pediatric-care institutes focused on the brain, cancer and blood disorders, the heart, and orthopedics.
Griffin founded Citadel Investment Group, a Miami hedge fund, and has given extensively to arts and culture groups, medical care and research, universities, and other nonprofits. He appeared on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors in 2014 when he gave Harvard University $150 million primarily to support financial aid.
Mississippi State University
Michael and Valarie Hall pledged $16.5 million to back academic programs in the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering and to support athletics. Of the total, the Halls are directing $15 million to establish several endowments within the the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
The remaining $1.5 million will support several efforts within the athletics department, including the renovation of Davis Wade Stadium and two fellowship positions for student-athletes.
Michael Hall is a former managing principal of MAS Energy, an Atlanta, Ga., company that develops energy systems for corporations. He founded Shady Grove Road Investments, the Hall family office. He earned an engineering degree from the university in 1995.
Youngstown State University
Bruce Zoldan and his family gave $5 million toward the construction of a new student center, which will be named for the family. Zoldan is president and chief executive of Phantom Fireworks, a national fireworks retailer with headquarters in Youngstown, Ohio.
To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated regularly.
