The Pigott family ties to the university stretch back to the early 1920s; the Braun family traces its ties to the founding of the university. L.W. “Bill” Lane Jr.’s association with the university spans more than 50 years. He has been active in fostering appreciation for Stanford history and historic buildings.

Development officers acknowledge that the renaming of the three Quad corners (the fourth, Math Corner, was previously renamed the Alfred P. Sloan Mathematics Center) may not sit well with everybody. But the need to repair and upgrade the campus’ quake-damaged buildings outweighed those concerns.

“Fifty million dollars is a lot of money,” said development officer Jack Hickethier. “To try to raise that in [very small] increments is a daunting task, so we really needed some people to step forward in a very major way in order to give us a fighting chance of achieving that goal. These three donors have done that. They have really breathed new life into the Restoration Fund.” ST

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