Ambry Genetics’ Charlie Dunlop Boosts Bio Sciences With $50 Million Gift

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:

University of California at Irvine

Charles (Charlie) Dunlop gave $50 million to establish an endowment in the School of Biological Sciences that will support research and academic programs. UCI officials plan to rename the school the Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences.

Dunlop founded Ambry Genetics in 1999, and led the Aliso Viejo, Calif., genetic testing company until he sold it in 2017 to Konica Minolta and Innovation Network Corporation in 2017 for roughly $1 billion. Dunlop did not attend UCI, but his connections to the university were solidified through the many UCI biological sciences graduates he hired to work for Ambry Genetics. He also co-founded the Mauli Ola Foundation, a Laguna Beach, Calif., nonprofit that provides surfing and other ocean-related activities to people living with cystic fibrosis and other genetic diseases.

Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center

Andrea and Anthony Melchiorre gave $30 million to back a new cancer center that is scheduled to open next year. It will be named the Melchiorre Cancer Center at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J. Including their latest gift, the couple have donated nearly $50 million to the medical center, and Andrea Melchiorre has served on its Board of Trustees since 2017.

Anthony Melchiorre founded Chatham Asset Management, a hedge fund in Chatham Borough, N.J., which owns controlling interests in several media corporations, including McClatchy Company, a chain of about 30 media outlets that include the Sacramento Bee, the Miami Herald, and the Kansas City Star; and Postmedia, the publisher of several Canadian newspapers such as the Vancouver Sun.

In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Melchiorre and his hedge fund with “improper trading of certain fixed income securities,” according to an SEC news release. Chatham and Melchiorre agreed to pay more than $19.3 million to settle the charges.

Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Joseph and Linda Chlapaty gave $25 million to back research and faculty salaries within the recently launched Institute for Mental and Behavioral Health Research, and pay for the construction of a new building to house the institute at the Columbus, Ohio, pediatric acute care teaching hospital. Hospital officials plan to name a research building at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute for the donors.

Joseph Chlapaty served as chief executive officer of Advanced Drainage Systems, in Hilliard, Ohio, from 2004 until he retired in 2017. He was with the company for 37 years. He joined the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Board of Trustees in 2008 and leads its finance committee, while Linda Chlapaty serves on board of the hospital’s Center for Family and Safety Healing.

The couple are longtime donors to the hospital and to other nonprofit institutions, including the University of Dubuque, from which Joseph graduated in 1968. They’ve given the university at least $71.5 million over the years, according to a Chronicle tally.

Portland Community College Foundation

Brigid Flanigan pledged $1 million to expand the college’s First-Year Experience program, which will help historically underserved students who are the first in their families to attend college. Flanagan plans to pay off the pledge in annual $200,000 installments over the next five years.

The program connects first-generation college students with an academic advisor and a coach as well as campus and outside resources, including career guidance.

Flanagan is a real estate developer who founded and leads Tenfold Senior Living, a Bend, Ore., company that operates senior living communities in California and the Northwest. She will join the Portland Community College Foundation Board of Trustees on July 1.

Project C.U.R.E.

John Evans gave $1 million to support the nonprofit’s efforts in Ukraine. Evans‘s money will be used to match donations from others to underwrite the delivery of approximately 60 additional semi-truck-sized ocean containers of essential medical supplies and equipment to Ukraine this year. Evans is a real estate developer in Laramie, Wyo. He worked for a number of nuclear energy companies earlier in his career.

To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated regularly.