Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin continue to give back big to Pittsburgh.
A little over a year after donating $65 million to the Carnegie Science Center on Pittsburgh’s North Shore — the largest gift to the Carnegie museums since their founding by Andrew Carnegie — the couple have gifted another record amount: a $25 million donation to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland.
A gallery inside the Carnegie Museum of Natural History will be named for the couple, much like the former Carnegie Science Center was renamed the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Science Center.
According to the museum, the money will “serve as a catalyst to transform 60,000 square feet of gallery space and support scientific research.” The Kamins’ gift will be used between now and 2028 to renovate the museum’s “Dinosaurs in Their Time” exhibition. A portion will also be used to establish an endowment that will support the museum’s scientific mission.
”Twice in the past year, Dan and Carole Kamin have demonstrated their profound commitment to the work of our museums through transformational gifts totaling $90 million,” Steven Knapp, president and CEO of Carnegie Museums, said in a statement. “We are deeply grateful for their unparalleled endorsement of our museums’ power to inspire and inform, and we are honored to be a part of their great legacy of generosity in the Pittsburgh region.”
The Kamins are longtime patrons of the museum. In 2017, the couple was inaugurated into the Carnegie Nobel Quartet Society, which recognizes lifetime giving to Carnegie Museums that exceeds $1 million. Carole Kamin is an emeritus member of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History Advisory Board and a longtime member of Carnegie Museum of Art’s Women’s Committee. She also previously worked as a buyer and manager for both Carnegie Museum of Art’s and Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s museum stores.
The couple donated $5 million in 2016 for the endowment of Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s director position, currently held by Gretchen Baker.
The “Dinosaurs in Their Time” exhibit, which opened in 2007, will be updated and modernized with immersive and interactive elements such as in-gallery storytelling.
Baker said in a statement that when she met Carole Kamin, the two immediately bonded over their love of dinosaurs.
“One of my first jobs when I moved to Pittsburgh was as a buyer for Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s museum store, so my connection to and love for this museum runs deeply,” Carole Kamin said in a statement. “I’ve long been an admirer of the cutting-edge research and field-leading work that the museum does so that science can be engaging and accessible to individuals of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. It’s an incredible honor for Dan and me to support the museum’s upcoming transformational efforts and scientific discoveries over the long term.”
The couple was honored with the Outstanding Philanthropists award for their generosity by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Western Pennsylvania Chapter in November. Daniel Kamin, a commercial real estate entrepreneur, has sold real estate in 44 U.S. cities.
The couple, who live in Shadyside, had donated to 175 smaller non-profits and organizations as well as larger ones, which amounts to more than 200 monetary gifts over the course of the past year.
The couple also has a family foundation.
“Carnegie Museum of Natural History stewards one of the most extraordinary dinosaur fossil collections in the world, and the museum’s beloved exhibition, ‘Dinosaurs in Their Time,’ contains many of the finest fossils from this collection, material of tremendous scientific and historical significance, such as the original, name-bearing fossils of Tyrannosaurus rex, Diplodocus carnegii, and Apatosaurus louisae,” Baker said. “Now, with Carole and Dan’s generous support, we’ll reimagine the gallery in which these iconic specimens are displayed, plus tens of thousands of additional square feet within the museum. In catalyzing these changes and in establishing an endowment to support the scientific mission of the museum, the Kamins’ unprecedented gift will leave a lasting impact on countless museum visitors, staff, and volunteers, and the Pittsburgh region, in posterity.”