SOURCE OF WEALTH: National Semiconductor
FUNDING AREAS: Religious causes, policy, education, health, disabilities
OVERVIEW: Floyd Kvamme and his wife Jean do their grantmaking through the Jean and E. Floyd Kvamme Foundation, which funds Chistian organizations, public health and conservative-leaning policy development.
BACKGROUND: Floyd Kvamme graduated with a BSEE from UC Berkeley in 1959 and an MSE from Syracuse University in 1962. Kvamme helped found National Semiconductor in 1967, serving as general manager of semiconductor operations and helping to build the company into a billion-dollar business. From 2001 to 2008, he co-chaired President Bush's President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Kvamme is a partner emeritus at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
ISSUES:
RELIGIOUS: Christian organizations number significantly among the Kvammes’ grantees. Floyd and Jean met at a San Francisco church and had their first date at the 1958 Billy Graham crusade in San Francisco. The couple funds religious institutions via their foundation, including San Jose’s Cityteam Ministries, the Gateway Bible Church in Scotts Valley, the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association, Elam Ministries and Emmaus Inn Ministries, a Catholic organizations that supports disabled youth.
POLICY: The Kvammes’ grantmaking for policy development leans conservative. Recent grantees include the American Enterprise Institute, the Ethics and Public Policy Center and the Pacific Legal Foundation, which identifies as libertarian and defends issues of individual economic freedom.
EDUCATION: Education is a smaller area of funding for the Kvamme Foundation. The couple supports Wheaton College, where Kvamme sits on the Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics and Economics advisory board. Other grantees include Hillsdale College the Baymonte Christian Schools and Forman Christian College in Atlanta. Several years ago, the couple made a seven-figure gift to West Valley College, creating the Jean and E. Floyd Kvamme Planetarium.
GLOBAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH: The Kvammes have made only a few grants for health and medical organizations in recent years. Grantees include Mercy Ships and the Spondylitis Association of America (SAA), which deals with inflammatory arthritis affecting the spine and large joints. Kvamme Foundation Board Member Damon Kvamme is associated with SAA.
DISABILITIES: In the late 1990s, the couple purchased a ranch in Felton, California, and Jean founded the Lichen Oaks Adaptive Riding Center (LOARC), “a therapeutic horseback riding center” that serves children and adults with special needs and their families. The Kvammes have also supported the Joni and Friends International Disability Center.
LOOKING FORWARD: Expect the Kvammes to stick with their interest areas. Annual grantmaking has fluctuated between about $600,000 and $1.3 million over the past several years.
CONTACT:
The Jean & E. Floyd Kvamme Foundation
P.O. Box 2494
Saratoga, CA 95070
(408) 395-2829
Fax: (408) 354-0804