Philanthropy

The Blandin Paper Co., founded in 1927, stretches for eight blocks along the Mississippi River and is one of Grand Rapids' largest private employers. The Blandin Foundation was founded in 1941 and has been working on problems as diverse as the Iron Range economy, needs of older college students, Indian education, coordinated nursing education and future mineral development.

Bush directed the 3M sales force for many of his 57 years of service. In 1953 he started the Bush Foundation with grants in the areas of education, including faculty development for Minnesota colleges, historically black colleges and tribal colleges; midcareer fellowships; social services, including child-care resources, and the arts and culture.

Dayton, one of five sons of the department store founder, was chief executive officer of Dayton Hudson Corp. and a major art collector. He recently granted a rare 150-acre tract of Big Woods to the Minnesota DNR. Known largely for his gifts to the arts, he paid $5 million in 1993 for a Claude Monet painting for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, where he is a lifetime trustee.

Bruce Dayton's brother, Kenneth started working at Dayton's department store in 1946. He was named vice president in 1948. In 1965 he was elected executive vice president of the Dayton Company. He has given millions of dollars to the Walker Art Center, the Minnesota Orchestra and the University of Minnesota Arboretum.

In 1974, Ewald was named executive vice president of the McKnight Foundation. His hallmark was taking risks, getting out in the streets to see what was happening and formulating programs that were better than the grant requests coming into his office. In 1954 he became pastor of St. Martin's by the Lake and in 1970 became executive director of the Minneapolis Foundation.

The grandson of St. Paul railroad baron James J. Hill, Louis Jr. was a lifelong patron of the arts and charities. He represented part of the old 40th District in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1937 to 1951. He was largely responsible for developing the St. Paul-Nagasaki (Japan) Sister-City Committee, the first of its kind in the country.

Irvine was best known for donating $7 million to help bring the Ordway Music Theater to life. Her family gave another $8 million. She gave consistently and often anonymously to the Guthrie Theater, Children's Theatre Company, Chimera Theatre, Actors Theatre of St. Paul, the Lakeshore Players and the St. Paul Civic Opera Association.

McKnight, along with Archie Bush, helped to transform a small Duluth sandpaper firm into the internationally-known 3M. In 1953, he founded the McKnight Foundation, which funds innovative projects in human services, education and rural development.

In 1902, Ignatius Aloysius, enrolled at the College of St. Thomas after being thrown out of St. John's University for drinking. O'Shaughnessy graduated in 1907 and went on to own Globe Oil in Oklahoma. He endowed the University of St. Thomas, which named multiplebuildings in honor of its benefactor. His company became one of the world's leading petroleum developers.

In May of 1970, Phillips was presented with the Brotherhood Award by the National Conference for Christians and Jews. He was Mount Sinai Hospital's chief founder and its first president. In 1967, he contributed $1.5 million to the Jay Phillips-Owen H. Wangensteen Research Center at the University of Minnesota. He was also a vice president and trustee for the Minnesota Society for Crippled Children and Adults.

At age 35, Shannon was appointed president of the College of St. Thomas. A former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, he left the priesthood and started a career in philanthropy. He was executive director of the Minneapolis Foundation and for eight years was vice president and executive director of the General Mills Foundation.