Posted on August 29, 2011

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University Announce $125 Million Bequest

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Virginia Commonwealth University have announced a $125 million bequest from the trusts of Arthur Graham and Margaret Branch Glasgow that will provide the two institutions with a total of $115 million and thirteen other nonprofits with $10 million.

Created in the 1950s, the Glasgows' trusts terminated after the death of their son-in-law, Ambrose Congreve, this summer in London. VMFA will use its gift, estimated to be about $70 million, to create a restricted endowment for the purchase of art and to support the museum's recent expansion. VCU will use the approximately $45 million it receives to support efforts to cure and prevent cancer and other degenerative diseases.

The remaining $10 million will be distributed among thirteen nonprofit organizations and institutions, most of which are located in the greater Richmond area. The recipients are the Jenkins, Richmond Memorial Health, Virginia Healthcare, and Historic Richmond foundations; Sheltering Arms Hospital; Virginia Home; Children's Hospital of Richmond; the Virginia Historical Society; the Second Presbyterian Church of Richmond; St. Paul's Church of Richmond; Washington and Lee University; Wabash College, and the Stevens Institute of Technology.

"This is the kind of gift that helps elevate a university even further," said VCU president Michael Rao. "As a major research university, a gift of this magnitude enables us to support the people, facilities, and programs necessary to make a difference in peoples' lives and in the health of our community. We are so very grateful to Margaret and Arthur Glasgow for their generosity and foresight with this gift, which will benefit Richmond and beyond."