Note: This article has been updated with a $25 million gift to Nova Southeastern University.
A roundup of notable gifts compiled by The Chronicle:
Pittsburgh Foundation
Raymond Schubart Suckling, an engineering executive with a secret fortune, left $37.1 million to the foundation to benefit two charities and several programs.
His bequest will provide annual grants of $500,000 each to the Sewickley Public Library and the Sewickley Valley Hospital Foundation, both in the Pennsylvania town where Mr. Suckling lived for most of his life. He also directed annual grants in the same amount to programs that benefit low-income youths and families in the region.
Mr. Suckling died in 2014. He worked as a mechanical engineer at Koppers Company until he retired in 1985, but his wealth came from money he inherited from his father, who served in executive roles at Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company and at Standard Steel Spring Company.
In 1993, Mr. Suckling established a donor-advised fund at the foundation in memory of his parents and donated at total of about $670,000 to the fund during his lifetime. Few people knew he was a multimillionaire.
Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans
South Dakota banker Denny Sanford gave $30 million to create and endow the Horatio Alger-Denny Sanford Scholarship Program.
The gift will provide $3 million a year in scholarships over the next 10 years to Horatio Alger Scholars choosing to attend one of the 12 universities Mr. Sanford has chosen. Seven are in South Dakota, two are in California, and one each is in Arizona, Minnesota, and New York State.
Mr. Sanford leads United National Corporation, a bank holding company, and is a longtime philanthropist who has appeared in The Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 report of the most generous donors seven times over the years.
Bucknell University
Ken and Janice Freeman pledged $25 million to the College of Management, which will be named for them.
Their gift will support the hiring of new senior management faculty and will be used to expand the college’s interdisciplinary educational programs.
Mr. Freeman led Quest Diagnostics, a medical-testing company, before joining the private-equity firm KKR. He later served as dean of Boston University’s School of Management, now the Questrom School of Business. He graduated from Bucknell in 1972 and is chairman of its Board of Trustees.
Nova Southeastern University
Kiran and Pallavi Patel gave $25 million through their family foundation for the College of Allopathic Medicine, which will be named for them.
Kiran Patel is a cardiologist who owns the managed health-care companies Freedom Health and Optimum Healthcare. His wife, Pallavi Patel, is a pediatrician.
The couple gave the university $50 million last year, also through their foundation.
Spelman College
Seth and Beth Klarman donated $5 million for scholarships for current and incoming students.
Seth Klarman is chief executive of the Baupost Group, an investment-management firm, and the author of Margin of Safety, a finance book.
The Klarmens have supported scholarships for Spelman students since 2014.
RAND Corporation
Leonard Schaeffer, a Rand trustee, gave $3 million to endow the nonprofit’s employee-recognition awards, which will be named for him.
Mr. Scheffer lead WellPoint (now Anthem), an insurance corporation, and served as its chairman through 2005. He is currently a professor at the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy.
To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated throughout the week.
