A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:
Ohio University
Jeffery Chaddock and Mark Morrow pledged $25 million to support the College of Fine Arts and endow programs within the Kennedy Museum of Art and the performing arts and concert series. The money will also support a fellowship and scholarships, the Ohio University Press, the university’s Pride Center, and other programs. The arts college has been renamed the Jeffery D. Chaddock and Mark A. Morrow College of Fine Arts.
Jeffery Chaddock is CEO of Envisage Wealth, a wealth advisory firm in Gahanna, Ohio. He graduated from the university with a bachelor’s degree in communication systems management in 1988. Mark Morrow serves as a docent at the 9/11 Museum in New York. He is a retired real-estate agent, who worked as a lifestyles reporter for NBC4 earlier in his career. Both raised in Ohio, the couple announced in 2016 that they plan to leave 97 percent of their estate to the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio to benefit education and arts programs in Appalachia.
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Roy and Diana Vagelos gave $400 million to establish the Roy and Diana Vagelos Institute for Basic Biomedical Science, build a new facility for biomedical research labs, and help scientist-physicians transform their biomedical research into advanced treatments for an array of diseases.
Roy Vagelos is a physician-scientist who retired as chairman of the pharmaceutical giant Merck & Company in 1994. He earned a medical degree at Columbia in 1954 and went on to serve as chairman of the Department of Biological Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis. Diana Vagelos graduated from Barnard College, a Columbia University affiliate, with a degree in economics in 1955.
The couple have appeared several times on the Chronicle’s Philanthropy 50 annual ranking of donors who give the most to charity; they were No. 15 in our most recent tally for their $175 million gift to the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons last year.
The medical school also received $20 million from David Koch Jr. through his David Koch Jr. Foundation to establish the David Koch Jr. Glomerular Kidney Center, which will house clinical research efforts and physician education and training programs and provide care for patients with glomerular diseases, which impair the kidney’s filters. Koch is an heir to the Koch Industries fortune. His late father, David Koch Sr., served as an executive vice president of Koch Industries until his retirement in 2018.
Alverno College
John and Tashia Morgridge gave $10 million through their TOSA Foundation to support a range of programs at this private Catholic women’s college in Milwaukee, Wis. John Morgridge is chairman emeritus of Cisco Systems, a company that designs networking and communications technology and services, and Tashia Morgridge is a retired special-education teacher who has worked as a volunteer teacher for students with learning disabilities.
The couple are prolific donors who have given more than $500 million to nonprofits since 2004 and have appeared on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors five times over the last 20 years.
They have given extensively to their alma mater, University of Wisconsin at Madison, including a $125 million gift in 2021 to establish the School of Computer, Data, and Information Sciences, and $100 million in 2014 to match gifts from others who endow professorships.
They also gave $175 million in 2007 to launch the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars, a Madison nonprofit that provides tuition grants to needy graduates of Wisconsin public schools who attend public colleges and universities.
Chautauqua Institution
Craig and Cathrine Greene gave $8 million to renovate Bellinger Hall, a building that houses students who participate in the arts and culture organization’s summertime pre-professional dance program.
This is the couple’s second donation this year. In February, the Greenes gave the organization $5.3 million to support inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility efforts; and endow dance and other programs.
Craig Greene leads Greene Group Industries, an industrial manufacturer with headquarters in Oceanside, Calif. The company was founded by G.G. Greene, one of Craig Greene’s ancestors, in Warren, Pa., in 1904.
University of Rhode Island
Cherubina (Ruby) DeChristofaro pledged $7 million to establish the Joseph ’56 and Ruby DeChristofaro Award for Scholarly Excellence in Neuroscience for undergraduate students and the Joseph ’56 and Ruby DeChristofaro Distinguished Endowed Faculty Fund in Molecular Life and Neurosciences. Officials plan to name the university’s biotechnology and life sciences building for the donor and her late husband.
The donor is the widow of Joseph DeChristofaro, who led Gallagher International Operations, an international insurance and risk-management company with headquarters in Rolling Meadows, Ill. He died in 2019 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Roanoke College
Shaun McConnon pledged $5 million for the construction of a new science center, which will be named the Shaun McConnon Discovery Center. He donated $15 million in 2021 to kick off the college’s effort to raise $60 million to build the center.
McConnon is a cybersecurity expert who founded several technology-security companies, including Oakena, Raptor Systems, Q1 Labs, and BitSight Technologies. He started his career in pharmaceutical research and sales and then joined Honeywell’s computer division. A Roanoke College alumnus, McConnon earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1966.
To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated regularly.
