Herbert and Nicole Wertheim gave University of Florida Scripps Biomedical Research $100 million to back a $1 billion effort to expand biomedical and translational research, endow five professorships, train young scientists, and improve the health outcomes and experiences of patients. The gift will also support the development of more than 100 acres of land in Palm Beach County that will be named the Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology.

Plus, Jackie and Mike Bezos gave $710 million to Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and Massachusetts General Hospital got $50 million to expand sickle cell disease research and to support other programs.

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A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:

Herbert and Nicole Wertheim gave $100 million through their Dr. Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Family Foundation to back a $1 billion effort to expand biomedical and translational research, endow five professorships, train young scientists, and improve the health outcomes and experiences of patients. The gift will also support the development of more than 100 acres of land in Palm Beach County that will be named the Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology.

Wertheim is a billionaire ophthalmologist who founded Brain Power, a manufacturer of eye-care instruments. He is credited with being the first to discover and produce ultraviolet-light dye absorbers for eyeglass lenses that help people avoid cataracts, retinal deterioration, and other eye diseases. He studied electrical and computer engineering at the university and serves on the Board of Directors of Scripps Research.

The Wertheims have given extensively to a number of universities over the years and appeared on the 2015 Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors. They gave the University of Florida $50 million that year for a new engineering building and to back collaboration between the University of Florida and Florida International University.

Jackie and Mike Bezos gave $710 million through their Bezos Family Foundation to support 36 new research labs, the construction of a large research facility, and clinical-trial infrastructure and immunotherapy research over the next 10 years. The cancer center was formerly known as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. In April it merged with the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, and its name was shortened to the less formal Fred Hutch Cancer Center earlier this month as part of a rebranding effort.

Jackie Bezos is the mother of Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon. She created the Bezos Scholars Program at the Aspen Institute, the Aspen Challenge, and Students Rebuild, all of which are education programs for various age groups. Mike Bezos, Jeff Bezos’s stepfather, spent 32 years working as an engineer and manager with the oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil. The Bezos family had previously given the cancer center nearly $68 million since 2009.

Lynda and Stewart Resnick pledged $50 million to establish the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Center for Agricultural Innovation, an effort to find new ways of balancing food production with sustainability practices and advancing the agricultural industry’s practices. Set to be completed by 2026, the center will house classrooms, research and lab spaces, and student career and advising support services.

The Resnicks have directed $10 million to launch the Resnick Agricultural Innovation Research Fund, which will award annual research grants that promote collaboration between research faculty, agricultural producers, food companies, pharmaceutical companies, commodity boards, and others.

The Resnicks own the Wonderful Company, which makes Fiji Water, Pom Wonderful, and Wonderful Pistachios, among other food and beverages. Stewart Resnick serves on the UC Davis Chancellor’s Board of Advisors. The couple have given extensively to support education, agriculture, arts and culture, and other causes over the years. They have appeared on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors four times since 2008.

Robert Kraft gave $50 million through his Kraft Family Foundation to establish and endow the Robert K. Kraft Endowed Chair in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which will be held by the medical director of the hospital’s Comprehensive Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Center.

One of the goals of the new chair will be to strengthen and expand research into sickle cell disease, a serious genetic blood disorder that primarily affects African Americans, Latinos of Caribbean ancestry, and people of Middle Eastern or Indian subcontinent descent. It has been historically underfunded for decades. The gift will also endow the Kraft Center for Community Health and back the expansion of the Mass General Blood Donor Center.

Kraft founded and leads the Kraft Group, a holding company in Foxborough, Mass., that invests in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, and real-estate development. He has owned the New England Patriots football team since 1994, and in 1996 he founded the New England Revolution, a professional soccer team.

John Metz and Ali Khan pledged $46 million to support scholarships for students who are Pell-grant eligible, those who are the most in need of financial assistance. The university will receive the donation when the couple passes away.

John Metz is an art collector and retired employee-relations executive who graduated from the university in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in business economics. Metz and Khan pledged $5 million to the university in 2007 in honor of Metz’s 50-year reunion, and the couple established the John Metz and Ali Khan Scholarship Fund in 2019.

Todd and Andie Pedersen gave $35 million to back the health care system’s effort to create a national health system for children. Officials plan to name one of the sections of Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, in Lehi, Utah, the Todd and Andie Pedersen Patient Tower.

Todd Pedersen co-founded and is chairman of Vivint Smart Home, a home-automation and security company in Provo, Utah, that was acquired by the Blackstone Group for approximately $2 billion in 2012. Pedersen started his career selling pest-control services door-to-door in 1992 and later sold burglar alarms. He later co-founded APX Alarm Security Solutions and changed the company’s name to Vivant in 2011. He appeared on the CBS reality show Undercover Boss in 2015.

Kent Rockwell gave $18 million through his S. Kent Rockwell Foundation to support the university’s business school, which will be renamed the Rockwell School of Business. The donation will also be used to endow the S. Kent Rockwell Fellowship in Entrepreneurship and S. Kent Rockwell Professorship of Entrepreneurship.

Rockwell founded and leads Rockwell Venture Capital, a Pittsburgh firm that invests in technology companies. He retired as vice chairman of Argon ST, a subsidiary of aerospace giant the Boeing Company, in 2008 and formerly led the technology companies Astrotech International Corporation and SensysTech, and served as group president and member of the board of directors of Rockwell International, the aerospace company founded by his grandfather Willard F. Rockwell from 1973 to 1983.

Marvin Weiner and Jacqueline Bernstein gave $5.5 million to establish the Jacqueline J. Bernstein and Marvin H. Weiner Imaging Center at Broward Health Imperial Point and to purchase new imaging technology.

Weiner founded MHW Group, a Baltimore company that provides refrigerated rail, truck, and warehousing supply-chain services. He died last month at 83 just after the couple gave the organization the gift. He received cancer treatment at Broward Health Imperial Point.

To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated regularly.