Duke gets $75 million

PJ staff report | December 8, 2011

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Duke University

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke University in Durham has announced two gifts totaling $75 million from two board members and their wives.

Duke trustee Bruce Karsh and his wife Martha donated $50 million for a permanent endowment to support need-based financial aid for undergraduate students from the U.S. and abroad.

And trustee Jack O. Bovender Jr. and his wife Barbara established a bequest of $25 million to support Duke's Fuqua School of Business, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, and School of Nursing.

The gift from the Karshes, Duke's largest donation ever from individuals to support financial aid, includes $30 million for U.S. students and $20 million for international students.

Including the gift, the Karshes have given $85 million for undergraduate education at Duke, which provides some form of financial assistance for over half its undergrads.

Bruce Karsh, a 1977 Duke graduate, is president of Oaktree Capital Management in Los Angeles, and Martha Karsh is an attorney and co-founder of Clark & Karsh, an architecture, design and development firm in Los Angeles.

Bovender, a 1967 Duke grad, is retired chair and CEO of Hospital Corporation of America, which owns and operates 164 hospitals and 106 free-standing surgery centers in the U.S. and Great Britain.

Barbara Bovender was a head nurse at Duke Hospital when she and Jack Bovander married.

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