Ky. College Gets $18.6-Million; Other Gifts

By Kevin DuMouchelle and Julia Green

Centre College, in Danville, Ky., received an $18.6-million bequest from the estate of H.W. (Wes) Stodghill Jr., an alumnus who served as a member of the college’s Board of Trustees, and his wife, Adele. Mr. Stodghill was co-founder and chief executive officer of Independence Life and Accident Insurance Company, in Louisville, Ky.

Part of the gift — $6-million — has already been given to the college; the rest is expected within a year. Mr. Stodghill directed that the funds be divided evenly between student scholarships and endowment of faculty chairs and professorships.

Mr. Stodghill, who graduated in 1936 with a degree in biology and chemistry, died in December 2002; his wife died in May 2001.

Other recent gifts:

Dallas Zoo: $2-million gift from the charitable trust of Betty Moroney Norsworthy, the granddaughter of George Bannerman Dealey, who was president of the Dallas Morning News, to build an otter exhibit. Ms. Norsworthy died in 2001 at age 83.

Guilford College (Greensboro, N.C.): $1-million gift from William R. Soles Jr., a member of the college’s Board of Trustees, and his family. Mr. Soles is founder, chief executive officer, and president of Soles Brower Smith & Company, an investment-banking firm.

Johns Hopkins U. (Baltimore): $1.9-million in the form of a trust from the estate of Huntington Cairns, an editor and a former lecturer for the school’s writing seminars who died in 1985, for a research-fellowship program in the School of Arts and Sciences; and $1.3-million from an anonymous donor to support brain-disease research in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences in the School of Medicine.

Kentucky Humane Society (Louis-ville): $2-million anonymous bequest for the endowment.

New York Academy of Medicine (New York): $1-million from Susan Rudin and her husband, Jack, chairman of Rudin Management Company, a real-estate company in New York, for research.

Saint Leo U. (Fla.): $1-million unrestricted gift from Gail Greenfelder and her husband, Glen, chair of the university’s Board of Trustees and a businessman in Dade City, Fla.

Tulane U. (New Orleans): $1-million from the family of Wendell H. Gauthier, a trial attorney, to create a Center for Applied Trial Advocacy at the Law School. Mr. Gauthier died in December 2001.

U. of California at Riverside: $2-million from Ali Sahabi, a real-estate developer in Glendale, Calif., to create a Center for Sustainable Suburban Development.

Union College (Schenectady, N.Y.): $1.2-million from David Viniar, chief financial officer of Goldman Sachs & Company, in New York, to construct a gymnasium.

University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston): $5-million pledge from Cheryl Lockton and her husband, John, for pancreatic-research programs and to endow a chair in pancreatic research. Mr. Lockton, who has been treated for cancer at the center, founded Lockton Insurance, in Kansas City, Mo., which later became Lockton Companies, an insurance and risk-management business.

Wellness Community-Central Indiana (Indianapolis): $2-million unrestricted bequest in the form of a charitable lead trust from the estate of Alice M. Keesberry Paulsen, of Indianapolis. The center provides support services for people with cancer and their families and friends. Ms. Paulsen died in January 2002 at age 96.

Youngstown State U. (Ohio): $1.5-million from Denise DeBartolo York and her husband, John, to construct a student recreation center. Ms. DeBartolo York is chairman and Mr. York is president of the DeBartolo Corporation, in Boardman, Ohio, a professional-sports, entertainment, and investment business that owns the National Football League’s San Francisco 49ers.