Lincoln’s Cottage
It is little known that for fully a quarter of his presidency, Abraham Lincoln didn’t live in the White House. He and his family chose to reside at a cottage Read more…
Refine Search Results
Search Results for:
Last of the Mellon Pictures
When philanthropist Paul Mellon died in 1999, he bequeathed 110 major works of art to the National Gallery, the last in a very long string of art gifts from the Read more…
Making an Impressionism on Denver
The Denver Art Museum has been admired for its contemporary, Native American, and Western art. In 2006 the building gained a major Daniel Libeskind-designed expansion, thanks to a $20 million Read more…
Saving Negro Spirituals
Edward “Ned” McIlhenny, who ran the Louisiana Tabasco-sauce company founded by his father, racked up some major accomplishments as a preserver of rare birds and plants (see 1892 item on Read more…
Helping Disadvantaged High School Students Love the Classics
Walter Teagle, longtime president of Standard Oil (now ExxonMobil) graduated from Cornell University in 1899, served as a Cornell trustee for 30 years, and was an energetic advocate for “liberal Read more…
Fighting Cancer at Johns Hopkins
In the last decade or so, Johns Hopkins University has jumped to the top of the charts when it comes to cancer research and treatment, and this has been particularly Read more…
CDHI Foundation
Huntington’s disease is a genetic disorder that destroys portions of the brain involved in movement, thinking, and emotions, progressing over decades with ultimately fatal results. It strikes perhaps 30,000 persons Read more…
Foundation Fighting Blindness
To research methods of preventing, treating, or curing diseases like retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration—afflictions that impair or end vision for more than 10 million Americans—venture-capitalist Gordon Gund co-founded the Read more…
Analyzing an Archive of Tumors
Marie-Josée Kravis has served on the overseers’ board at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for decades, and she heads the board of its research arm, the Sloan Kettering Institute. Read more…
Kohlers Fly to the Aid of Endangered Swans and Cranes
Wisconsin industrialist Terry Kohler and his wife Mary are both nature lovers and pilots, so when their governor and friend Tommy Thompson called them to ask if they would help Read more…
Skilled Jobs and Vets, Brought Together
“We need to look into this,” said GE chairman Jeff Immelt in 2012. He was bothered by the elevated rates of unemployment among young men and women just leaving the Read more…
Pay-for-Performance Social Investing
In 2010, a new method of solving social problems was proposed in Britain. It called for putting up philanthropic or private investment funds to create programs that could head off Read more…
Speeding Safe Shale-gas Production
In 2012, two major philanthropists—oil-and-gas pioneer George Mitchell and Wall Street entrepreneur Michael Bloomberg—announced a joint effort by their foundations to encourage safe and efficient production of natural gas via Read more…
Mapping Killer Asteroids
The B612 Foundation was founded by an ex-NASA astronaut to study ways of deflecting or destroying asteroids with the potential to be dangerous if they strike Earth. Eventually, the nonprofit Read more…
Venture For America
“Smart people should be building things,” says Andrew Yang. He believes far too many graduates of top colleges currently follow the crowd into finance and law and consulting, and that Read more…
Helping Community-college Students Complete Degrees
Since the mid-twentieth century, community colleges scattered all across America have filled an important role in training workers to fill positions in their regional economies (see also the 1960 entry Read more…
Helping Community-college Students Complete Degrees
Since the mid-twentieth century, community colleges scattered all across America have filled an important role in training workers to fill positions in their regional economies (see also the 1960 entry Read more…
Science Prizes and Research Institutes
Fred Kavli intimately understood how scientific understanding could create economic bounty—he had earned hundreds of millions of dollars applying his knowledge of physics to make precision sensors for manufacturers. So Read more…
Strengthening Character Through Sports
David Weekley was involved in character-building activities as a youth through Boy Scouts and church groups. After his success as a major home builder he decided to devote 50 percent Read more…
Helping People Who Are Ready to Change
Real-estate developer Bill Butler, who describes philanthropy as “central to my purpose in life,” spearheaded establishment of the Life Learning Center in 2006. It has gone on to become one Read more…