A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:
University of California at Irvine
Audrey Steele Burnand left $57.75 million to establish the Noel Drury M.D. Depression Research Center where researchers will study the causes of depression and work to develop new treatments. Noel Drury is a psychiatrist in Newport Beach, Calif., where Burnand lived.
Of the total, roughly $55.2 million is earmarked for research at the new center and the remaining $2.6 million will provide perpetual support to the UCI-managed Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center, in Borrego Springs, Calif., a 75-acre nature preserve that provides research and environmental programs for students, scientists, and others.
Burnand was a philanthropist who supported the arts, education, environmental conservation, and scientific and medical research during her lifetime. She led her late parents’ Harry and Grace Steele Foundation, which closed in 2006. She died in 2020.
Case Western Reserve University
Joel Roth pledged $20 million to support a leadership institute designed to prepare students to address the world’s increasingly complex challenges. The money will provide full-tuition scholarships and leadership programs to up to eight undergraduates a year. The students will be known as Roth Scholars.
Roth graduated from the university in 1958 with a civil-engineering degree and went on to work at a range of companies, including Proctor & Gamble, Ernst & Young, and Gulf and Western. In the early 1970s, he began buying up industrial-supply companies, including Fulton Supply, where he now serves as president.
St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children
Cindy Johnson gave $20 million to support a range of programs. The 150-year-old nonprofit helps children with medically complex conditions at its in-patient hospital in Bayside Queens, N.Y., and through its home-care services and neighborhood programs.
Cindy Johnson serves as co-chairman of the organization’s Board of Directors. She is married to Tod Johnson, the executive chairman of NPD Group, a market-research firm in Port Washington, N.Y. The couple are longtime donors to the nonprofit.
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
Dan Riccio and Diane Casey Riccio pledged $15 million to support neuroscience research. The gift includes $10 million for what will be named the Riccio ALS Accelerator Initiative and $5 million to expand and endow the Riccio Fund for Neuroscience, which will provide seed money for research collaborations.
Dan Riccio is vice president of engineering at Apple, where he has helped lead the design, development, and engineering of nearly all of Apple’s products. He earned an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from UMass Amherst in 1986.
Diane Casey Riccio earned a doctorate from the university’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2003. She currently works to raise awareness of and funds for the Alzheimer’s Association of Northern California and Northern Nevada, where she is on the board of directors.
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Dale and Pat Larson and their family gave $10 million through their Larson Family Foundation to help the nonprofit expand its services and programs so that it can serve more youths across the country.
Dale Larson is the retired head of the Larson Manufacturing Company, a Brookings, S.D., manufacturer of storm doors and windows. The family have been longtime donors to the charity.
To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated regularly.
