2 California Universities Divide Entrepreneur’s $200-Million Gift

Most fund raisers know it pays to be aggressive. But rarely is the payoff as big as the $100-million the University of Southern California has been promised by Alfred E. Mann, a biomedical entrepreneur.

A graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, Mr. Mann said he originally planned to give $200-million to his alma mater. But when U.S.C. got wind of the plan last spring, university officials did some entrepreneurial work of their own. The university’s president, Steven B. Sample, invited Mr. Mann to lunch and encouraged the philanthropist to consider supporting a private institution.

The result was a decision by Mr. Mann to split his gift in half: $100-million for U.S.C. and $100-million for U.C.L.A.

“Steve said, ‘You know, U.S.C. is much easier to deal with than a public university,’ ” Mr. Mann recalled in an interview. “He told me, ‘A private institution can be much more decisive and isn’t burdened with all the politics and bureaucracy.’ And he convinced me. He did a good selling job.”

Both gifts — among the largest ever made in higher education — will be used to create research institutes that Mr. Mann said would be “bridges between academia and industry.”

U.S.C. has said it will set up the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering, a non-profit institution that will conduct research on new medical devices.

Final details for the U.C.L.A. gift are still being worked out, but Theodore Mitchell, vice-chancellor for external affairs, said the new institute would focus on ways that engineering, science, and biology can work together to prevent and treat diseases.

Mr. Mann, chairman of MiniMed Inc. and several other Los Angeles biomedical companies, said the process of selecting directors for each research institute is already under way. If things proceed as expected, he would begin turning over the money in July, Mr. Mann said.

Mr. Mann is expected to serve as chairman of both institutes. But he emphasized that his companies would not have any special access to technologies developed by the new research centers he is financing.

At age 72, Mr. Mann says his philanthropic efforts are unlikely to end with these recent donations.

After he provides for his six children, Mr. Mann says, he plans to leave the bulk of his estate to a foundation that bears his name. He would not, however, speculate on how much his estate might be worth. “If my estate continues to prosper,” he says, “then maybe I can do more.”

Only eight other gifts to colleges or universities have exceeded $100-million, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Before Mr. Mann’s donations, seven other donors had given $100-million contributions.