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Transforming Real Estate into a Meaningful Gift

From a vacation home to farmland, and from condominiums to commercial property, real estate affords many lifestyle and investment possibilities. Some Princetonians have transformed property into a wonderful gift for their families and the University.
Howard A. Prior ’28
When President Shirley M. Tilghman came to Princeton in 1986, she arrived as the Howard A. Prior Professor of Life Sciences.  Two years earlier, Howard A. Prior ’28 had created six trusts funded with farmland in Maryland that were structured to benefit members of his family during their lifetimes, with the principal ultimately coming to Princeton. The University created the professorship in Prior’s honor when he died in 1985.

Prior was interested in the sciences—molecular biology in particular—and wanted to create a meaningful legacy on campus in this area. In addition to the professorship, his gift also provided funds for the Lewis Thomas Laboratory, which was dedicated in 1986.
L. Desaix Anderson Jr. ’58
L. Desaix Anderson Jr. ’58L. Desaix Anderson Jr. ’58 has also been able to transform real estate—in this case, three condominiums in Washington, D.C.—into a gift that is particularly meaningful to him. “I welcome the opportunity to thank Princeton for an extraordinary, life-long engagement with ideas and history,” he says.

Anderson, a 35-year career diplomat who spent most of his career working on Asian issues, is now devoting his time to painting and teaching. He has lectured at Princeton on East Asian political economies and on Asian security issues. In the summer of 2007 he taught the first Princeton Global Seminar, “America and Vietnam at War: Origins, Implications, and Consequences,” in Hanoi, sponsored by the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, and the Study Abroad Program.

His gift of real estate through a charitable trust will create a professorship in Contemporary East Asian Political Economies.
Thomas J. Nelson *68
There are many reasons Princetonians choose to make a gift of real estate through a trust, and some of them are driven by financial prudence. Thomas J. Nelson *68 considered selling some of his real estate investments to make a gift, but the size of the resultant potential capital gains tax bill was a deterrent.

By donating real estate to the University through a charitable trust, Nelson effectively bypassed the immediate capital gains issue and gained tax-efficient payments for the rest of his life.  Princeton’s ability to sell the real estate and reinvest the proceeds was an important motivating factor for him.

Beyond purely financial reasons however, donors are motivated by their desire to make a personally meaningful gift to Princeton. Nelson credits attaining his PhD at Princeton with paving the way to a career in academia, which ultimately led to his position as Dean of the Engineering School at the University of Portland.

His gift will provide fellowships for future generations of graduate engineering students: “I made this gift out of the firm conviction that the greatest good in society is produced by a few exceptional, talented leaders—and no place is better at nurturing the development of an exceptional individual’s talents than Princeton University.”

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© 2008 The Trustees of Princeton University

© 2008 The Trustees of Princeton University
Transforming Real Estate into Gifts
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