An anonymous donor gave Cornell University $100 million to build new residence halls and student commons. The gift matches the largest single gift in the Ivy League school’s history. The pledge is expected to cover about half the cost of new housing planned on Cornell’s West Campus.
Florida State University received a $7 million gift from Robert Dedman, the founder and board chairman of Club Corp., to establish the Dedman Endowment in Hospitality. The gift is the largest donation ever to the business college. The money provides for endowed professorships in hospitality, service management and professional golf management; scholarships; student expenses for corporate site visits, industry meetings and trade shows; and faculty research.
Ohio University has received a $5.8 million award to fund The Russ Prize for engineers. The prize will award $500,000 every other year, beginning in 2000, to engineers whose work has benefited humanity. It will be administered by the National Academy of Engineering.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill have received a $5 million federal grant to study why prostate cancer returns and look for ways to stop it. The grant is from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute on Aging.
Purdue University officials say they will use a $3.7 million donation from Ford Motor Co. to help pay for building construction and new equipment for the engineering school. The money will be given over the next five years and will also fund scholarships for undergraduates in the schools of engineering and technology.
nUniversity of Alaska-Anchorage’s American Russian Center has been awarded a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. State Department to continue training managers for small and medium-size businesses in the Russian Far East.
Utah Valley State College received a $1 million donation from Diamond Aircraft for the school’s two-year aviation program. In addition to a new plane and a $95,000 electronic flight simulator, the Canadian company has agreed to pay a $7,000 monthly mortgage payment on the school’s new hangar for 100 months.
Mississippi Delta Community College received a $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to start a carpentry program. The grant will fund a program that will teach 40 residents in the Mid-Delta Empowerment Zone on-site construction skills. Participants in the program will build two single-family homes, which will later be sold to low- and moderate-income families.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has received a $500,000 donation from Jeff Raikes, an Ashland, Neb., native who is group vice president of worldwide sales and support for Microsoft, and his wife, Tricia. The funds, given to honor his parents, will be used to establish the Ralph and Alice Raikes Chair in Plant Sciences.
Florida A&M University has received a $200,000 award from the Florida Power & Light Co. for the school’s scholarship fund. It is the first time a Florida-based company has become a member of the university’s Eternal Flame Scholarship Fund.
— Compiled by Eric St. John
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