Alabama State University received the largest gift ever from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. Scott, an American novelist, philanthropist, is an early contributor to Amazon. She was married to Jeff Bezos, the co-founder of Amazon, from 1993 to 2019. As of July 2025, she has a net worth of US$41.9 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, owning a 1.3 per cent stake in Amazon.
President Quinton T. Ross Jr., Ed.D., acknowledged the gift as the largest single donation to the university in the university’s 158-year history. He also believes that this gift “affirms Alabama State University’s reputation as a catalyst for excellence and innovation in higher education.”
Two other historically Black colleges and universities in Maryland received a total of $63 million in donations from billionaire philanthropist Scott.
The unrestricted gifts — $63 million for Morgan State University announced on Oct. 15 and $38 million to University of Maryland, Eastern Shore announced Friday, Oct. 24 — are in addition to $60 million that Scott gave the schools five years ago. Morgan State got $40 million then, and UMES received $20 million.
Scott also donated $25 million in 2020 to Maryland’s second-largest HBCU, Bowie State University, the largest single gift in the school’s history. In total, Scott has donated $186 million to Maryland HBCUs in a nearly five-year period.
