F. W. Olin Foundation - Olin College

Olin College

Main article: Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

In the early 1990s, the board of the Olin Foundation began to worry about the perpetuation of donor intent in subsequent generations. "We were concerned about how we were going to find people committed to continue the grant program, who wouldn’t come in with their own agenda, their own baggage, and try to change things around," Milas said. "With the escalation of building costs, would we be able to sustain that grant program? We were locked into what we had as a private foundation. Would we remain relevant if we couldn’t substantially grow our assets?"

The board evaluated options, and decided to pursue an idea that Olin had suggested in the 1940s: starting a new college. In 1997, they chartered the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering and made an initial gift of $200 million. Milas was president initially, but he soon hired Richard Miller as the college's president and first full-time employee. In 2005, after the college had been up and running for several years, the foundation dissolved itself and transferred the balance of its endowment, about $250 million, to the college.

The foundation closed in the same year as the John M. Olin Foundation, which was established by Franklin's son John. The John M. Olin Foundation also shut down for donor intent reasons, although the two foundations were entirely independent and unrelated except for the family connection of their founders.