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The 1998 Slate 60
The 60 largest American charitable contributions of 1998.

the slate 60:
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Posted Wednesday, Jan. 27, 1999, at 11:30 PM ET

Introduction

The 1998 Slate 60
The 60 largest American charitable contributions of 1998.

Anonymous Gifts From Individuals, 1998
$10 million and above.

Honorable Mentions
100 other known gifts of more than $5 million in 1998.

32. TED TURNER--a total of approximately $27 million from the CNN founder, who provided the inspiration for the Slate 60 and other subsequent lists of givers. This includes $26 million through his foundation to a variety of organizations focusing on energy, water/toxins, forests/habitats, and population issues. Current initiatives include the design of "local control" mechanisms, conservation biology and ecosystem protection, and sprawl. Also, $1 million to the NATIONAL CABLE TELEVISION CENTER AND MUSEUM at the University of Denver. Not included in this year's list is $100 million to the U.N. FOUNDATION (Washington), the first year's installment of Turner's 10 year $1 billion pledge, because the full $1 billion was credited to him in last year's list, thus earning him the No. 1 spot for 1997.

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33. JOHN F. McDONNELL and JAMES S. McDONNELL III--a total of $26.5 million: $20 million to WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY School of Medicine (St. Louis) and ST. LOUIS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL to construct a pediatric research center, and $6.5 million to WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY for three professorships. John F. McDonnell is the former chairman of McDonnell Douglas and a director of the Boeing Co. His brother, James, is the former corporate vice president of McDonnell Douglas and a director of the Boeing Co.

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33-WOODWARD 33. ROBERT WOODWARD--$26.5 million from this Kerrville, Texas, resident to ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (Texas) from the trust he created in honor of his mother, Grace L. Woodward, who died last year. Woodward is a longtime friend of the university's former President and Chancellor Emeritus John Stevens.

35-ALLEN 35. PAUL ALLEN--a total of more than $26 million from the co-founder of Microsoft. The gifts include $10 million to the STATE OF WASHINGTON to support grants for acquiring, developing, equipping, maintaining, and improving youth or community athletics facilities. The new grant program is being administered by the Interagency Committee on Outdoor Recreation, a state agency that provides recreation, parks, and conservation grants and services. Also, $5 million to the NATURE CONSERVANCY (Va.); $2.8 million to the TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND (Wash.) to help preserve old growth forest at Canyon Lake Creek; a $2.5 million challenge grant for books to the SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY; $2 million to the NATIONAL CABLE TELEVISION CENTER AND MUSEUM ; a $1.5 million challenge grant to FRIENDS OF OPAL CREEK (Ore.) to help preserve old growth and rain forests; $2 million to SURVIVORS OF THE SHOAH VISUAL HISTORY FOUNDATION; and other gifts totaling more than $800,000.

36. WALTER and LEONORE ANNENBERG--a total of $25 million: $10 million toward turning INDEPENDENCE MALL into the Philadelphia area's major tourist destination. The revitalization project, now in its early stages of development, includes construction of a new pavilion to house the Liberty Bell in the mall area in front of Independence Hall. And $4.2 million of the gift will be used to create an educational and interpretive facility adjacent to the Liberty Bell's new home. The remaining $5.8 million will help pay for the creation of a new visitor center for the mall area. Also, $5 million from the Annenberg Foundation to the PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL DISTRICT, and $10 million to the UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA to launch a scholarship program and endow a political science and communications post.

36. DONALD and DORIS FISHER--$25 million from their new foundation to the EDISON PROJECT, a New York-based company that hopes eventually to operate public schools for a profit. The Fishers are owners of the San Francisco-based Gap clothing chain. "It makes Edison possible where it wouldn't be," said Christopher Whittle, the media entrepreneur who founded the company in 1991. The grant will be used to subsidize California school districts that want to hire Edison. It will also create 15 public "charter" schools, with four scheduled to open this fall.

36. DARLA MOORE--$25 million to her alma mater, the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA business school, which will be renamed for her. The investment banker becomes the first woman to have a business school at a major university named in her honor. Moore runs Rainwater Inc., the investment company in Fort Worth, Texas, founded by her husband, Richard Rainwater. She has nearly tripled the company's net worth since 1994, to $1.5 billion. "This is the most conservative part of the country, a state that has the Citadel, a state where we still fly the Confederate flag, and [where] Strom Thurmond is the dominant political force," Moore told the Chronicle of Higher Education. "And what do they do but name their crown jewel after a woman?"

36. MARY and ROBERT PEW--$25 million from the Mary and Robert Pew Public Education Fund to the COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR PALM BEACH AND MARTIN COUNTIES (Fla.). The endowment's mission is to improve public education for economically disadvantaged children in Palm Beach and Martin counties by developing, testing, and implementing new learning strategies. It also aims to support educational enrichment programs that are not available as part of the regular school curriculum. Robert Pew is chairman of the board of Steelcase Inc., a designer and manufacturer of office furniture based in Grand Rapids, Mich. The company went public in February of 1998, and the gift consists of 800,000 shares of Steelcase stock. Robert Pew is related to the family that created the Pew Charitable Trusts in Philadelphia but is not linked to that organization.

36. DANIEL T. and MERLENE PHILLIPS--a $25 million pledge to the BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA from this family's Dallas-based foundation. Dan Phillips, chairman and CEO of FirstPlus Financial Group Inc., and his wife, Merlene, made the pledge after hearing that the youth organization was the official charity of the Goodwill Games. Phillips says his own childhood experience in the Boys & Girls Clubs also inspired the gift, which will help support educational programs for disadvantaged youth. "I'm a big believer that Boys & Girls Clubs can make a real difference in helping many thousands of kids overcome their negative circumstances at home and [in] enhancing the education they receive in school."

36. DANIEL L. RITCHIE--An 18,000 acre parcel of land known as the Jones Ranch, worth an estimated $25 million, to the UNIVERSITY OF DENVER from its chancellor. When the property is sold, the money will be earmarked for the university's athletics program. "I love this land, but I love the University of Denver even more," Ritchie said. His previous donations--19,600 acres of his sprawling Grand River Ranch in 1994 and another 12,500 acres in 1996--were given quietly and jump-started the university's capital improvement fund-raising campaign. The son of a North Carolina farm-implements salesman, Ritchie turned to full-time ranching in 1987 after having led Westinghouse Broadcasting for eight years. Lured out of retirement in 1989 by trustee Bill Coors, Ritchie was hired to lead the financially troubled university for $1 a year. He soon stopped taking even that token amount.

36. JULIAN H. ROBERTSON JR.--$25 million to LINCOLN CENTER (New York City); $10 million of the grant will go to the center's own artistic programs and series. The remainder will be divided among Lincoln Center's 12 constituent members, including the New York Metropolitan Opera, the Juilliard School, the New York City Ballet, the New York City Opera, and the New York Philharmonic. Robertson, 66, is chairman and CEO of the multibillion dollar Tiger Management investment fund. He intended the gift as a surprise for his wife, Josie, the New York Times reported. Lincoln Center's fountain plaza will be renamed for her.

36. PETER and ADA EGBERT ROSSIN--$25 million to LEHIGH UNIVERSITY (Pa.), which will name its engineering school in Peter Rossin's honor. Returning to college after serving as a pilot in World War II, he said, his grades weren't much above average--"but what I learned, I learned well." He founded Dynamet Inc. in 1967, and it became a leading domestic and international supplier of titanium alloy products for the aerospace, medical, and sports industries. He sold it in 1997 for $161 million. "My wife and I feel very strongly that one of the best ways for us to make a contribution to society is to ensure that people are being exposed to more and better education," he said.

36-SCRUGGS 36. RICHARD and DIANE SCRUGGS--$25 million to the UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI for faculty salaries in the College for Liberal Arts. The couple will give $1 million annually for each of the next 25 years. Richard Scruggs said they hope the gift will increase the university's chances of being awarded a Phi Beta Kappa chapter soon. An attorney, he is a 1969 graduate who also earned a law degree from the university. He is a director of the university's foundation.

45. PAUL and DAISY SOROS--$24 million, including a $20 million trust to help underwrite American graduate education for immigrants and their children. The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans will give selected students half their tuition costs, plus $20,000 for up to three years at any U.S. graduate school. There are 20 recipients for the 1998-99 school year. "The big trend in this city [New York] is putting your name on a building, which didn't appeal to my husband," Daisy Soros told the New York Times. "I did this instead," said Paul Soros, who made his fortune building industrial ports. Both he and his brother George were born in Hungary and emigrated following World War II. They now work together, buying and investing. According to Paul Soros, he and his wife have given $4 million to other organizations and causes in 1998.

46-McNAIR 46. ROBERT C. and JANICE McNAIR--a total of $22 million: $2 million in September to the SOUTH CAROLINA AQUARIUM, its largest gift to date, to sponsor the Great Hall, a soaring, sunlight-filled space with a tank of schooling fish and a map of the state's coast on the floor. "We know that every child is a precious resource who deserves a good education," the McNairs said. "But schools cannot do the job alone." Also, $20 million to the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA to endow the McNair Scholars Program, designed to attract some of America's most academically talented students to the school. Robert McNair is a 1958 graduate of the university and founder and CEO of Houston-based Cogen Technologies Energy Group, the largest privately owned cogeneration company in the United States.

Photographs of: Robert Woodward courtesy of Abilene Christian University; Paul Allen © Richard Brown Photography; Diane and Richard Scruggs courtesy of the University of Mississippi; Robert and Janice McNair courtesy of the University of South Carolina.