Annenberg to Give Education $500 Million

Philanthropist Walter H. Annenberg is expected to announce today the largest gift ever given to benefit education, a $500-million series of grants for school reform projects.

President Clinton and Education Secretary Richard W. Riley will join the former publishing magnate and ambassador to Britain during the Richard Nixon Administration at the White House today to discuss the grants, which are to be made to several education groups seeking to improve elementary and secondary schooling.

The latest grants, to be paid out over five years, top the record for giving set in June by Annenberg when he awarded $365 million to four schools, including USC.

Although White House officials refused to give details of the awards, three groups are expected to get a major share of the money: the New American Schools Development Corp. in Alexandria, Va.; the Coalition of Essential Schools at Brown University in Providence, R.I., and the Education Commission of the States in Denver.

In June, Annenberg, 85, said he planned to give away most of his $1.6-billion fortune to education and the arts. It is “a critical time for the schools,” he said in an interview, adding that he hoped his generosity would “inspire others to do the same.”

The education awards are intended to turn into a reality recent ideas for restructuring schools, ranging from the use of new computer technologies to keeping schools open in the evenings and on weekends.

The New American Schools Development Corp. was begun in 1991 by business leaders and George Bush Administration officials who believed that they could develop more effective and creative learning programs outside the traditional public school system.

The Coalition for Essential Schools is led by veteran education innovator Theodore R. Sizer, whose schools promote learning through team projects and in-depth study. Almost 700 middle schools and high schools have joined Sizer’s coalition and have pledged to experiment with his reform ideas.

Unlike the other two groups, which are developing model schools, the Denver-based education commission serves as a network for projects throughout the country and compiles data on education reform in the states.

Annenberg, who made his fortune through publications, particularly TV Guide, Seventeen magazine and the Daily Racing Form, has gained attention in recent years with a series of colossal grants.

His June announcement included gifts of $120 million to USC and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, $100 million to the Peddie School--a college preparatory academy in Hightstown, N.J., that Annenberg attended--and $25 million to Harvard University.

“It’s a very important thing in my life because there is nothing of greater importance than preparing the youth to run our country,” Annenberg told The Times at the time. “Education is the key.”

His past support of learning includes a 1990 pledge of $50 million to the United Negro College Fund and large donations to communications schools that bear his family name at USC and at the University of Pennsylvania.

To mark his 83rd birthday in 1991, he announced that he would bequeath roughly $1-billion worth of paintings to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The paintings, including many by French Impressionists, will go to the museum after Annenberg’s death.

“I love them with a passion,” he said of the paintings, “and I want them to stay together after I’m gone.”

The Annenberg Foundation had assets of nearly $1.5 billion last year, making it the 11th-richest foundation in the country, said Loren Renz, vice president for research at the Foundation Center.

Profile: Walter H. Annenberg

* Born: March 13, 1908

* Hometown: Milwaukee

* Education: Graduated from Peddie School, a preparatory school in New Jersey, in 1927. Attended Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania but dropped out to join his father’s business, Triangle Publications, as a bookkeeping assistant.

* Career highlights: In 1942, became president of Triangle Publications. In 1953, started TV Guide and turned it into the largest-circulation U.S. magazine before selling it in 1988 as part of $3.2-billion deal. In 1969, was appointed U.S. ambassador to Britain, where he served until 1974. In 1972, helped establish Annenberg School of Communication at USC. In 1986, was awarded Medal of Freedom.

* Personal: Married to Leonore Cohn in 1951. Two children, from previous marriage.

Sources: Times staff, Current Biography, Who’s Who in America