Philanthropists boost Virginia universities, health systems

Once again, philanthropists made major gifts to Virginia’s universities, health systems and other organizations over the last 12 months, delivering donations to fund scholarships, academic programs, athletics and health care initiatives across the commonwealth.

Billionaire Pittsburgh Steelers minority owner Rob Citrone and his wife, Cindy, donated more than $50 million to Hampden-Sydney College — the largest gift in the school’s 250-year history — to launch a full-tuition scholarship program for top prospective students, the private liberal arts college for men announced in November 2025.

Also, MacKenzie Scott made twin $50 million unrestricted donations last fall to Virginia State University and Norfolk State University, where the billionaire philanthropist and author had made record-setting eight-figure gifts in 2020. According to news reports, Scott exceeded $7 billion in donations last year.

The Kimmy Duong Foundation donated $20 million to George Mason University, the Fairfax university announced in April 2025, to name the Long Nguyen and Kimmy Duong School of Computing within the College of Engineering and Computing. Duong fled Vietnam in 1975. Now retired, she was vice chair and chief financial officer of Pragmatics, a Reston-based IT company founded by her husband, Nguyen.

Jim Smith, a senior facilities developer, and his wife, Augustine, both Roanoke natives and Virginia Tech alumni, endowed $20 million for in-state scholarships to the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, the university announced this February. It was the largest gift made for scholarships in Virginia Tech’s history.

In December 2025, Virginia Tech announced an anonymous $20 million donation to its athletics program, the largest gift to Hokie sports in the school’s history. University officials said the funding will support recruiting efforts under new head football coach James Franklin and benefit all athletic programs.

Earlier in 2025, the Blacksburg university announced a $16 million commitment from alumnus David H. Kellogg to support its philosophy, politics and economics program. Virginia Tech named its center for philosophy, politics and economics after Kellogg in 2020, following a gift of nearly $3 million, and the $16 million endowment made his name on the center permanent.

The family that owns Richmond-based Estes Express Lines made a $15 million donation to William & Mary to establish the Estes Center for Excellence in Accounting. The Williamsburg school announced the gift in April 2025. Rob W. Estes and Jean Berger Estes graduated from W&M in 1974 and 1975, respectively.

In December 2025, Old Dominion University announced the establishment of the Joan P. Brock Institute for Nutrition Science and Health with a $15 million gift. Brock’s late husband, Macon, co-founded retailer Dollar Tree. ODU’s academic health sciences center bears the name of the Brocks, recognizing Joan’s $20 million gift in 2024 for scholarships.

Virginia’s health systems also benefited from major philanthropic support in 2025.

UVA Health received two $25 million estate gifts from anonymous donors to support the University of Virginia’s Manning Institute of Biotechnology, the health system announced in June 2025.

In late October, Carilion President and CEO Steve Arner announced the health system had raised more than $105.6 million in its fundraising campaign for the Carilion Taubman Cancer Center, surpassing its
$100 million goal.

Carilion also announced in October the launch of a $50 million initiative to bring proton therapy to the cancer center. Former Advance Auto Parts CEO Nicholas Taubman, a former U.S. ambassador to Romania, and his wife, Jenny, contributed $17.5 million to the campaign. In July 2024, the couple donated $25 million to the center.

In other news, best-selling Virginia novelist David Baldacci and his wife, Michelle, pledged $13 million to Virginia Commonwealth University and the Library of Virginia to launch a nonpartisan initiative focused on experiential learning, curriculum development, events and programming spaces, according to a September 2025 announcement. The donation is the largest joint gift ever received by VCU and the Library of Virginia.