The University of the Pacific announced on Thursday that it had received a $125-million bequest that increased the size of its endowment by 59 percent and would allow it to plow more money into scholarships.
In a 2007 announcement of the donor’s intentions, the university estimated the bequest would be worth $100-million, but it said on Wednesday that the size of the gift had swollen by a quarter over the past six years.
The donors were Robert C. and Jeannette Powell, both of whom served as regents for the private university in Stockton, Calif. The reclusive couple, who lived in Gold River, Calif., had no children or close survivors, and neither graduated from college. Mr. Powell was a prominent Sacramento real-estate developer who died in 2007, just months after the couple announced their $100-million pledge. Mrs. Powell died last December. The couple became involved with the university several years ago at the encouragement of a friend who also served as a regent there.
The money, which Pacific’s president, Pamela A. Eibeck, described as “transformative,” will primarily benefit scholarships. A spokesman said that more than $60-million would go toward a forthcoming matching campaign to support both need- and merit-based scholarships, and $35-million more would be put into the university’s Powell Scholars program, which the couple endowed in 2008. Most of the remaining money will help academic programs.
In making the announcement, Pacific did not provide details of the bequest other than to say that it included artwork valued at more than $400,000 from the Powells’ personal collection. In 2000 the couple gave Pacific $1.5-million to create the Jeannette Powell Art Center on the campus. A portion of the bequest, $3-million, is earmarked to maintain and display Pacific’s permanent art collection.
Correction (10/18/2013, 10:32 a.m.): This article originally misspelled the given name of one of the donors. She is Jeannette Powell, not Jeanette. The article has been updated to reflect this correction.