When Tim Gill accepted the Award for community service at a luncheon held at the Four Seasons Hotel Denver, he did so in typical Tim Gill fashion: by paying it forward.
He’d treasure the commemorative etched crystal sculpture, he said, but would donate the $35,000 award that came with it to the University of Colorado to use in expanding its STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) curriculum.
Gill, who received a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from CU in 1976, can well afford the gesture.
, the computer software company that he developed, revolutionized the publishing industry by providing innovative and affordable tools for page design. It also turned the Wheat Ridge High School graduate into a multimillionaire and a philanthropist extraordinaire.
He started the in 1994, and since then it has invested some $220 million to nonprofit organizations and worthy causes throughout the nation, including $1 million to the for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief and to to establish the . The foundation also works to secure equal rights for all.
“Tim Gill is an astute philanthropist, emblematic of a new breed of business-minded donors,” noted J. Landis Martin, chairman of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation board. “He has imported business strategies to create independent charitable enterprises that emphasize innovation and accountability.”
The Bonfils-Stanton Award for arts and humanities went to Pat Pearce, general and artistic director of the . The award for achievement in science and medicine went to Leslie Leinwand, a worldwide expert in cardiovascular disease who is chief scientific officer for .
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, jdavidson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/getitwrite
