John Paulson

Paulson's 2015 commitment of $400 million endowed Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The school took his name, but Harvard identified faculty development, research, scholarships and financial aid among the endowment's purposes. That broad academic base distinguishes it from paying only for a new facility. An endowment is invested to support activity over time, so the headline amount should not be confused with a single year's research or scholarship spending.