Persistence Pays Off for Military College With a $6-Million Gift From Ross Perot

How much: $6.175-million

Who gave it: Ross Perot, a Texas entrepreneur who ran unsuccessfully for president in 1992 and 1996.

Who got it: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Foundation, the fund-raising arm of the college, a graduate school for military leaders.

Purpose: The pledge will endow a professorship in ethics and finance the Col. Arthur D. Simons Center for the Study of Interagency Cooperation, which will focus on improving collaboration and communication between military and civilian agencies. Mr. Perot asked that the center be named after the late Col. Simons, a former U.S. Army Special Forces officer who led a rescue of two of Mr. Perot’s employees after they were imprisoned in the midst of the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

How it happened: Bob Ulin, chief executive of the college’s foundation, first approached Mr. Perot, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, in 2006. Mr. Perot turned him down several times over three years, but Mr. Ulin kept in touch with him. The college named Mr. Perot the recipient of its 2010 Distinguished Leadership Award and Mr. Ulin flew to Texas to meet him. He did not plan to ask for money, but when Mr. Perot asked how he could help the college, Mr. Ulin suggested that Mr. Perot visit it. Soon after the visit, Mr. Perot made the pledge.