The Slate60

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

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121. HOWARD and KATHLEEN TONER–$2.35 million to SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY (Minn.) for unrestricted use from the former president of the Toner Corp., a computer-services consulting company, and his wife.



122. RICHARD E. WINTER–$2.25 million to CANISIUS COLLEGE (N.Y.), the largest gift in the college’s 127-year history. In October, the school named its student center in his honor. Winter is a 1942 social-studies graduate of the college. He is president and general manager of Pepsi-Cola Ogdensburg Bottlers.



123. F. JAMES BECHER JR. and H. MICHAEL WEAVER–Property valued at $2.2 million to the UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENSBORO for unrestricted use, from the co-owners of Odell Properties.



123. WILLIAM BENNETT–$2.2 million to the UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA AT LAS VEGAS for a professional-development building. Bennett is the owner of the Sahara Hotel and Casino.



125. JOHN R. and EILEEN STANLEY–$2.15 million to BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE (Texas) to endow a chair in plastic and reconstructive microsurgery and to fund research in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Stanley is the CEO of Trans-Texas Gas Corp., one of the state’s largest independent producers and marketers of natural gas.



126. WRIGHT W. and ANNIE REA CROSS–$2.1 million to the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI for a chair in mathematics and for undergraduate research. This is the largest single gift in the school’s history and its first endowed chair. In 1994, the couple gave $50,000 to establish the largest scholarship endowment in the history of the school’s mathematics department. Wright Cross is a 1951 mathematics graduate of the school, which was then known as Mississippi Southern College.



127. JAMES C. and CHERIE FLORES–$2.06-million pledge to LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY for the business college. James Flores, one of two co-founders of Flores & Rucks Inc., an oil and gas exploration company, graduated from LSU Business School in 1981.



127. CATHERINE and WILLIAM W. RUCKS IV–$2.06 million to LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY for the department of management. William Rucks is one of the two co-founders of Flores & Rucks Inc., an oil and gas exploration company. William Rucks graduated from LSU in 1979 and Catherine Rucks attended the school as well.



129. BILL J. and MARGARET M. POPE–More than $2 million in 1997: more than $1 million to BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY (Utah) for a professorship in the chemical-engineering department, where Bill Pope taught from 1958 to 1976. He is now chairman of the board of U.S. Synthetic Corp. Margaret Pope taught in the department of religion at Brigham Young for 26 years. Also, $1 million to UTAH VALLEY STATE COLLEGE for scholarships.



130. FAHMY and DONNA ATTALLAH–$2 million from this Long Beach, Calif., psychologist and his wife, an educator, to the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA School of Education to establish the Fahmy Attallah Ph.D. and Donna Attallah Chair in Humanistic Psychology. A portion of the gift will also create the Fahmy Attallah Doctoral Scholarships in Humanistic Psychology to support promising graduate students.