Lokey gives UO largest gift: $74.5M

Philanthropist Lorry I. Lokey has given the University of Oregon $74.5 million to benefit science teaching and research. The gift is the largest single academic donation in UO history.
The gift brings Lokey's total giving to the University of Oregon to $132 million over just the past four years. Lokey grew up in Portland and is a 1949 graduate of Stanford University.
Lokey founded Business Wire, an international news release wire service with 30 offices throughout the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Last year, Business Wire, founded in 1961, was sold to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.
The $74.5 million gift is the second largest single gift in UO history. Nike founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, gave UO $100 million this past August.
The bulk of the $74.5 million gift, about $50 million, will go toward the Lorry I. Lokey Science Advancement and Graduate Education Initiative, which features $20 million for endowed faculty support, $10 million for a quasi-endowment for additional faculty support, $10 million for endowed support for graduate students and a $10 million quasi-endowment for program support.
The funds will initially target areas of UO scientific research, including:
Fundamental genetic/molecular biology studies that advance understanding of cellular processes related to a wide range of diseases such as cancer.
Neuroscience programs that emphasize the study of cognition, behavior and brain adaptations for the use of artificial limbs, as well as rehabilitative approaches for learning disabilities and stress disorders.
Human physiology programs that will advance human performance, from the training of world-class athletes to the treatment of cardiovascular disorders.
Green nanotechnologies, which may help diagnose and treat disease.
In recognition of the gift, the university will dedicate the Lorry I. Lokey Science Complex, which will encompass the 10 existing science buildings and the two new facilities that Lokey has helped fund. The names of the individual buildings in the complex will remain the same.
The gift also includes:
$2 million for a new endowed chair in chemistry for materials science research.
$5 million support of the UO Science Library.
$3 million for an endowment supporting work at the intersection of the humanities and social sciences with the natural sciences.
$2 million for an endowed scholarship program in the School of Journalism and Communication.
$2 million for the new UO Alumni Center.
$5.5 for the President's Special Projects Fund.
Since 1990, Lokey has contributed more than $400 million to charity, with 98 percent going to universities and high schools. The largest amount has gone to the University of Oregon. For fiscal year 2006, Lokey was listed by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as one of 10 most generous donors in the country.
All of Lokey's gifts count toward "Campaign Oregon: Transforming Lives," the UO's $600 million fundraising campaign. With Lokey's most recent gift and the Knights' $100 million gift, the campaign has shot past the goal and now stands at $717.5 million. UO President Dave Frohnmayer says the campaign will continue until its scheduled end in 2008.
credited by: bizjournals.com