A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:
Razom for Ukraine
Tipper Gore gave $1 million to the Ukrainian American nonprofit to provide humanitarian aid to Ukrainians in need as a result of the Russian invasion. Gore served as second lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 when her now-former husband, Al Gore, was U.S. vice president during the Clinton administration.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Country music singer and songwriter Dolly Parton gave $1 million to support pediatric infectious disease research as part of the medical center’s efforts to fight the spread of serious infectious diseases.
In 2020, Parton gave the medical center $1 million to back research into Covid-19. She said in a social-media post at the time that she was impressed by the medical center’s Covid-19 research and also wanted to honor Vanderbilt surgeon Naji Abumrad, who became a friend after she was treated at the hospital following an automobile accident in 2013.
Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
James Dana English left approximately $35 million to establish the James D. English Fund, a permanent endowment that will provide annual support to four New Haven, Conn., nonprofits with which the English family was deeply involved.
Of the total bequest, two of the nonprofits will receive roughly $3.5 million apiece: the Clifford Beers Community Care Center, which provides mental health care to children and adults, and the Neighborhood Music School, which offers performing-arts education programs to people of all ages. The other two organizations — the New Haven Museum and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra — will each receive about $14 million of the bequest.
English, who died last year at 88, worked as a librarian at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. He was the heir to a family fortune dating back to the 19th century. His great-grandfather James Edward English was a New Haven businessman and investor who served two terms as governor of Connecticut in the 1860s and 1870s, and as U.S. senator and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut’s 2nd District.
His grandfather Henry helped to establish the New Haven Symphony Orchestra in 1894, and his mother, Katherine, was a cellist who performed with the orchestra in its early years.
Phillips Academy Andover
New York financier Oscar Tang gave $25 million to expand financial aid and the private school’s need-blind admission program. Tang served as president of the academy’s Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2012.
His ties to the school go back decades. Born in Shanghai, Tang came to the United States as a child after fleeing the communist takeover of China in 1949. He eventually found his way to Phillips Academy and graduated from the school in 1956.
“As a Chinese immigrant coming to this school, I was surprised to be given the same opportunities as my American-born peers,” Tang said in a news release. “I now believe that financial aid can do more than remove economic barriers. It can help Andover educate a diverse student body, including those students who are not exactly like our school’s founders.”
Tang forged a successful career in finance, eventually becoming head of research at the investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. In 1970, he co-founded Reich & Tang, an asset-management firm, and merged the firm with New England Investment Companies in 1993. Along with his wife, Agnes Hsu-Tang, he has given extensively to education, arts, and culture groups, and the couple appeared on the Chronicle’s 2021 Philanthropy 50 list of the most generous donors. Including this latest gift, Tang has given the Phillips Academy $66 million to date.
Luskin Orthopaedic Institute for Children
Meyer and Renee Luskin gave $15 million to endow the Orthopaedic Institute for Children, support patient care, and sustain education and research programs. Institute officials have renamed the organization the Luskin Orthopaedic Institute for Children.
Meyer Luskin is a former chairman and CEO of Scope Industries, a company in Santa Monica, Calif., that recycles bakery waste to make an animal-feed ingredient. He has been closely involved with the institute for almost two decades and is a former chairman of its Board of Directors. The Luskins are longtime donors to nonprofits and appeared on the Chronicle’s 2010 Philanthropy 50 list of the most generous donors.
Museum of History and Industry
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos gave $10 million to expand education and interactive programs at the museum’s Bezos Center for Innovation and to help the Seattle museum build an archive of artifacts to preserve Seattle’s industrial history. He gave the museum $10 million in 2011 to create the center as a way to teach young people about the importance of industrial innovation.
With an estimated net worth of about $130 billion, Bezos is the third-richest person in the world. He has given more than $12 billion to nonprofits over the last decade and has appeared on the Chronicle’s Philanthropy 50 list of the most generous donors three times in the last several years.
Holocaust Museum Los Angeles
Eric and Susan Smidt gave $5 million through their Smidt Foundation to encourage other donors to help expand the museum’s campus and educational programming. The couple said in a news release that they made the gift to ensure that future generations learn the lessons of the Holocaust.
“This gift is about taking a stand against hatred, racism, antisemitism and bigotry,” Susan Smidt said. “Holocaust Museum LA will help teach Angelenos how to do that for generations to come.”
Eric Smidt founded Harbor Freight Tools, a discount tool and equipment retailer. He also started Harbor Freight Tools for Schools, a nonprofit program that supports the advancement of skilled-trades education in U.S. public high schools. The couple appeared on the Chronicle’s 2016 Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors.
To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated regularly.
