Posted on Dec 4, 2002

Union College in Schenectady has received $20 million from John Wold, a 1938 graduate, and his wife, Jane. The gift is Union's largest, surpassing a $9 million donation from the F. W. Olin Foundation in 1996 for a classroom and laboratory building. Mr. Wold, 86, is a former United States representative from Wyoming, a geologist and the president of the Wold Minerals Company in Casper, Wyo., and other energy-mineral-development companies. He is a former trustee of Union College, where his father, Peter Wold, led the physics department from 1919 to 1945. With part of the gift, the college will create Wold House, one of seven houses on campus that are being built in an effort to reduce the traditional dominance of fraternities and sororities on campus. The money will also support scholarships, a professorship in religious studies and scientific and technical equipment.