The Philanthropy 50 2009 Gift Profile: Jon L. Stryker

Jon L. Stryker: $41.3-million

Biggest beneficiary: Arcus Foundation

Other key beneficiary: Arcus Operating Foundation

Donor’s background: Mr. Stryker is an architect and heir to the Stryker Corporation fortune. The medical-products company was founded by his grandfather, Homer Stryker, a surgeon who invented the mobile hospital bed.

Mr. Stryker, 51, gave $34.3-million to the Arcus Foundation, which has offices in Kalamazoo, Mich., and New York. The money will support the foundation’s two grant-making priorities: combating discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, and ensuring the survival of great apes and their habitats.

Mr. Stryker, who lives in Kalamazoo, established the foundation in 2000 and serves as its president. Since its founding, the organization has made grants totaling approximately $160-million. In December, for example, the foundation awarded $2.1-million to Kalamazoo College to establish the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. Mr. Stryker graduated from the college in 1982.

In addition, Mr. Stryker gave nearly $7-million to the Arcus Operating Foundation, which finances Arcus’s administrative work, and a total of $46,075 to other nonprofit groups.

—Maria Di Mento

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