Here's to American philanthropists

I have always revered philanthropists, people who give away large portions or all of their wealth to education, the arts, social welfare, civic causes, the environment, homeless, hungry and poor people. My top of mind list includes these names, a few of whom are still living. Carnegie. Ford. Frick. Rockefeller. Gates. Broad. Soros. Lauder. Vanderbilt. Guggenheim. Pulitzer. Nobel. Barnes. Phillips. MacArthur. Winfrey. Rhodes. (MacKenzie) Scott. Read more about how Philanthropy Fuels American Success.

I recognize that many of these people acquired their wealth by investing or working in industries that caused death and suffering for other people – cigarettes, coal, oil, mining, armaments, railroads. Some had less savory aspects to their character and did terrible things. I don't excuse that, but I do credit them with using their fortunes for good, in most cases quietly and without fanfare.

To my list of great American philanthropists, I will add Bowman Gray, Sr. The son of a co-founder of Wachovia Bank, he was later president and chairman of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco in Winston-Salem. He died unexpectedly in 1935 of a heart attack while on a ship traveling with his family off the coast of Norway. Learn more about Gray family history.

Gray was a major benefactor of the medical school at Wake Forest (then College) that later took his name. About ten years after his untimely death, his widow and children gifted The Graylyn Estate to Wake Forest. With 85 guest rooms and 15 meeting spaces on 55 acres, it is an idyllic oasis. Who wouldn't want to go there for a conference, a party, a charity fundraiser, or just a nature walk? I discovered Gray and his story while staying at Graylyn during a visit to Winston-Salem and Greensboro.

So here’s to the kindness and generosity of the great philanthropists, whose sharing of their wealth with others has made the world a better place.