Duke among 4 institutions to split $1B gift fund created from sale of Cary-based LORD Corp

DURHAM – Duke University just got an early holiday present.

The school is among four institutions to be gifted from a $1 billion fund created from the recent sale of the Cary-based adhesive and coatings manufacturer, LORD Corporation.

It will receive $262 million from the gifts of stock established in the name of Thomas Lord, who led the family-owned company until his death in 1989.

The others include Cleveland Clinic, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Southern California.

Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin Corporation completed its acquisition of the firm for $3.675 billion in cash in October, triggering the distribution of the proceeds to the four universities.

“The Lord Foundation’s exceptional support for Duke will transform our efforts to address the world’s most intractable problems,” said Duke President Vincent E. Price.

“From the foundation’s earliest investments in our Pratt School of Engineering to this truly visionary distribution, Tom Lord has left a lasting legacy on Duke’s campus.”

Lord’s estate plan created a holding company, Jura Corporation, which owned all of the voting stock and most of the non-voting stock of the LORD Corporation, as well as four foundations in the state of North Carolina, California, Massachusetts and Ohio.

Since their establishment in the early 1980s, the Lord foundations have already provided a total of approximately $200 million to the four institutions for education and research.

“When developing his estate plan, Tom Lord identified research institutions that shared his vision of continuous learning and innovation,” said Lt. Gen. Frederick McCorkle, USMC (Ret), president of Jura Corporation. “We are thrilled his legacy of developing new products to solve the world’s problems will continue.”

Founded in 1924 by patent attorney High Lord in Erie, Pennsylvania, the company moved its research and development (R&D) center to MacGregor Park in the Triangle in 1981. Later, it established its world headquarters in Cary in 1995.

By 2018, LORD has grown into a global enterprise with more than 3,000 employees in 26 countries – securing $1 billion in sales last year.