35. Robert Day

35. Robert Day

Trust Co. of the West CEO

2004-08 Giving* $290 million

In 2007, Day gave $200 million to establish the Robert Day Scholars Program at Claremont McKenna College to promote leadership in civic affairs and cultivate the next generation's business leaders. Since his graduation from Claremont McKenna, Day has remained devoted to the school, cultivating new educational programs in concert with school professors and administrators. Most recently, Day gave sister school Pitzer College $3 million to renovate an auditorium. He also gave $20 million to University of California at Los Angeles late last year to endow the Department of Surgery. Day also contributes to other causes personally and through a variety of charitable foundations.

For more, visit the W.M. Keck Foundation topic on Business Exchange.

*Based on public records and interviews with donors
Data: BusinessWeek, The Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University