Honorable Mentions211 other known gifts of more than $1 million in 1997

86. THE MUNROE SISTERS: JULIA MUNROE WOODWARD, MARY GRAY MUNROE COBEY, and MARGARET MUNROE THROWER–$3 million to WESLEYAN COLLEGE (Macon, Ga.). The Munroe sisters, who graduated from Wesleyan in the 1930s, expressed the hope that other sets of sisters would be similarly motivated to support the school. Margaret Munroe Thrower, the youngest of the three, is a vice chair of Wesleyan’s capital campaign. Originally from Quincy, Fla., the family were early investors in the Coca-Cola Co.



86. MELISSA NOEL–$3 million to the UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHAMPAIGN-URBANA to establish a chair in agriculture. Noel’s late husband, Dorrell, owned and managed real estate.



86. SHERRILL and JO ANN PETTUS–$3 million to SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY to help pay for the construction of a new stadium and all-sports center. The Pettuses, who own Southern Bleacher Co., are SMU alumni and gave $1 million to the university’s athletic department in 1995.



86. ROBERT RAGSDALE–$3 million to ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY (Texas) to help pay for the construction of a student center from this alumnus, in memory of his late wife, Pearle.



86. DINK ROBB–Total 1997 contributions: $3 million. The gifts, made to various institutions in his hometown of Electra, Texas, consisted of: $1 million to the FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH; $1 million to the ELECTRA PUBLIC LIBRARY; and $1 million to a trust fund benefitting ELECTRA HIGH SCHOOL graduates.



86. BERNARD SALICK–$3 million to QUEENS COLLEGE (New York) for the construction of an AIDS research center to support the work of Dr. Luc Montagnier, the French co-discoverer of the HIV virus. Salick is a 1960 graduate of the school.



86. ARNOLD A. SALTZMAN–$3 million to COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY (New York) to fund faculty chairs, student aid, and new courses at the newly created Arnold A. Saltzman Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracies. The center will initially focus on Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet states, but plans to include Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Saltzman is an alumnus of Columbia College and chairman of Windsor Productions. He has served five U.S. presidents in a wide range of policy-level diplomatic and economic assignments.



86. CARL and DIXIE SEBITS–$3 million to FRIENDS UNIVERSITY (Kan.) from the owner of Pickrell Drilling Co. and his wife. Carl Sebits is a trustee of the university and Dixie Sebits is an alumna. Pickrell Drilling Co. is one of the largest independent drilling companies in Kansas. The gift is the largest in the 99-year history of the school.



86. JOHN and DEBBIE TOLLESON–$3 million to SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY to endow the deanship of its Edwin L. Cox School of Business. Tolleson is the chairman of First USA Paymentech, the nation’s third-largest processor of bank-card transactions and a SMU alumnus.



86. JOHN WALTON–$3 million to the WASHINGTON SCHOLARSHIP FUND from this investor. The nonprofit WSF has been serving the schoolchildren of Washington, D.C., for the past four years. Walton is an entrepreneur and investor in privately held high-technology companies. “I am happy to help parents make a very important choice for their children,” he said.