FedEx Founder Fred Smith Pledges $50 Million to Renovate Athletics Stadium

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:

University of Memphis

Diane and Fred Smith and their family pledged a $50 million challenge gift to renovate the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, where the university’s football team plays its home games. The university’s athletics department plans to launch a fundraising effort to raise an additional $50 million from other donors to satisfy the Smith family’s match.

Fred Smith founded the FedEx Corporation in 1971 and today serves as the company’s executive chairman. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the 1960s, doing two tours of duty in the Vietnam War. He appeared on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors for pledging $65 million to the Marine Corps Scholarship Fund last year.

Oregon State University Foundation

Judy and Mike Gaulke gave $20 million to establish and endow the Gaulke Center for Marine Innovation and Technology, an interdisciplinary ocean-research center, as well as the Michael and Judith Gaulke Chair in Ocean Innovation.

The gift will also support faculty and graduate students, and back early-stage research or projects considered too risky to receive other types of funding. The holder of the Gaulke chair will lead the new center and serve as faculty in the College of Engineering and the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences.

The Gaulkes grew up in Hood River, Ore., and graduated from the university. Mike Gaulke graduated from the College of Engineering in 1968 and spent more than 20 years as an executive in Silicon Valley, including 13 years as CEO of Exponent, an engineering and consulting firm.

Judy Gaulke graduated in 1965 with a degree in what was then called home economics and went on to work as a flight attendant for Pan American World Airways. She later became the cookbook editor for Sunset Magazine and then founded a food-styling business.

Evangel University

The Green family pledged $10 million to raise an additional $10 million from other donors to support the construction of the Valor Center, a sports arena and field house, and to back other projects at this Springfield, Mo., Christian university. The family owns Hobby Lobby, a chain of craft stores, and Mardel, a Christian bookstore and education-materials supplier. Both companies are headquartered in Oklahoma City.

David Green founded and leads Hobby Lobby, while his son Steve is president of the company, and his daughter, Darsee Lett, serves as creative director. His other son Mart founded and leads Mardel. The family, whose net worth is estimated at nearly $14 billion, according to Forbes, founded the Museum of the Bible, which opened in Washington in 2017.

Intermountain Healthcare

Blake and Sandy Modersitzki gave $10 million to help build Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital’s Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Campus, in Lehi, Utah. Blake Modersitzki is a managing partner at Pelion Venture Partners, a venture-capital firm in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. He previously served as managing director and vice president of corporate development for Novell Ventures, another investment firm.

Earlier in his career, he worked in sales and marketing at WordPerfect, a word-processing software company. Sandy Modersitzki worked in that company’s communications department. Her niece was treated for cancer at Primary Children’s Hospital many years ago, and although she succumbed to the disease, Sandy Modersitzki was impressed by the thoughtful care her niece received at the hospital.

Luther College

Michael and Nicole Gerdin pledged $10 million through their Gerdin Charitable Foundation to support the expansion and renovations of the Regents Center, which houses the college’s athletics department; a fitness center for students, faculty, and staff; an aquatics center; indoor track, and tennis courts.

Michael Gerdin leads Heartland Express, a truckload and transportation-logistics company in North Liberty, Iowa, that was founded by his father. Gerdin graduated from the college in 1992. The Regents Center will be renamed the Gerdin Fieldhouse for Athletics and Wellness.

Sharp HealthCare

Laurie McGrath pledged $10 million through her Laurie C. McGrath Foundation to support a range of building projects, including the expansion of the Cushman Emergency and Trauma Center and the creation of the John M. Sachs Family Center for Generational Health and a new heart-and-lung institute. The new acute-care facility will be named for the donor.

McGrath leads McGrath Development, a real-estate development business in San Diego, and is an heir to the C.W. McGrath fortune. Her parents, Bill and Carlee McGrath, founded C.W. McGrath, an engineering contractor and excavation and construction company, in San Diego in 1937.

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