A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:
University of Oxford and University of Pittsburgh
David Frederick and Sophia Lynn pledged $35 million to support the Univ North building-development project at University College, Oxford, one of the University of Oxford’s oldest colleges. When completed, the new site will include student housing as well as study, meeting, and recital spaces; plus a café, gym, and child-care center. The new site abuts a housing complex for senior citizens and will include shared spaces for both students and the elderly residents of the complex.
The couple are also giving $5 million to the University of Pittsburgh to establish the David C. Frederick Honors College. Their gift agreement with Oxford includes a 50-year commitment to distribute a proportion of the income generated from the completed Univ North development to the University of Pittsburgh Frederick Honors College.
David Frederick is a lawyer and partner at the Washington law firm Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1983 and was the university’s first Rhodes Scholar, studying at the University of Oxford. He earned a Ph.D. from University College, Oxford, in 1987 and a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1989. Frederick served in the U.S. Department of Justice as assistant to the solicitor general from 1996 to 2001 and as counselor to the inspector general from 1995 to 1996.
Sophia Lynn serves as executive director of Crow’s Nest Research Center, a Stafford, Va., organization that is focused on conservation, environmental education, and wetlands research. She previously was a project manager for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where she led the organization’s effort to restore the President Lincoln and Soldiers’ Home National Monument, in Washington.
University of California at Irvine
Joe Wen gave $20 million to support the university’s new Health Center for Advanced Care and to name the Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care, one of three buildings to open at the new UCI Health-Irvine complex. The Wen building will house the Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders.
Wen founded Formosa Ltd., a holding company headquartered in Taiwan that owns financial businesses along with real-estate development and property-management companies, and has holdings in manufacturing and paper products.
Wen immigrated with his parents to the United States from Taiwan as a teenager. His family’s early years in America were difficult. Wen earned a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and then worked his way through the University of Southern California, where he earned an M.B.A. In 2003 he founded Sakura Paper, a paper-trading company in City of Industry, California, which is now a division of Formosa.
Worcester Academy
Ron and Markay Capozzoli gave $20 million to renovate a number of the private school’s buildings, including the 117-year-old Megaron building, which will be renamed the Capozzoli Family Megaron. The money will also support the school’s new recreation and athletic complex.
Ron Capozzoli Sr. is a real-estate developer in Jupiter, Fla. He graduated from the academy in 1949 and said in a news release that he experienced the best days of his life at the academy and that he and his wife are giving their latest gift to publicly recognize the memorable and formative experience he received there.
University of Southern California
Elizabeth Van Hunnick gave $15 million to the Department of History at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences in support of efforts to develop better informed leaders. The money will be used to endow three new professorships, which will be named for Van Hunnick; her late father, Garrett; and her sister, Wilhelmina. A new faculty research fund and a new graduate fellowship will also be set up. University officials plan to name the history department for the donor.
Van Hunnick is a former middle-school teacher in the San Diego area. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from USC in 1956. She said in a news release that she hopes her gift will help the country’s future politicians and other leaders gain a better understanding of history.
“You can see what’s happening in the world today; you see leaders and politicians making the same mistakes over and over again,” said Van Hunnick. “Things could be different if they would just look at history and understand what happened in other cultures and civilizations. You can truly learn a lot from the past.”
University of Oklahoma
Jonny and Brenda Jones gave $15 million to renovate and expand Jacobson Hall, one of the university’s oldest buildings. The hall houses the university’s campus visitor center, which will be renamed the Jones Family Welcome Center. The gift will help the university provide additional space for campus tours, financial presentations, application workshops, family meetings with admissions counselors, and prospective-student recruitment events.
Jonny Jones founded Jones Energy, an exploration, production, and acquisition company, and he leads McArron Partners LP, the investment arm of the Jones family office. Jonny and Brenda Jones earned their undergraduate degrees at the university in geology and special education, respectively. Four generations of Jones family members, totaling over 40 people, have attended the university since the early 1900s, including Jonny Jones’s father and grandfather, who also earned geology degrees there.
Vassar College
Film and television producer Jason Blum gave $10 million for financial aid. Blum earned a bachelor’s degree in drama from Vassar in 1991 and has served on the college’s Board of Trustees since 2015.
Blum founded Blumhouse Production, which has produced high-quality small-budget films such as Whiplash, Get Out, and BlacKkKlansman; horror franchises including Halloween, Paranormal Activity, and The Purge; and television series and documentaries such as The Thing About Pam, which recently aired on NBC. He previously worked as an independent producer for Paramount Pictures and as an executive at Miramax Films.
To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated regularly.
