$25 million new gift to museum from philanthropists Carole and Daniel Kamin follows their recent $65 million gift to science center

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, home to the Tyrannosaurus rex holotype and a famous Diplodocus, will benefit from a new $25 million donation from Carole and Daniel Kamin.

Carole Kamin first entered the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in 1975 as a buyer for its gift shop.

Mesmerized by the fossils, she embraced the title of “dinosaur queen” for the next two decades.

She sourced dinosaur-patterned fabric from India for barbecue aprons, worked with toy manufacturers to create models of the museum’s ancient creatures, and convinced a candy supplier to produce caramel-filled “Sweet Beasts.”

Now, she and her husband, Daniel, are giving back in a big way. Their $25 million donation will support renovations at the museum, which was founded in 1895 and holds one of North America’s largest fossil collections.

This gift comes as interest in dinosaurs remains strong, fueled by blockbuster films and record-setting fossil auctions.

The Carnegie Museum boasts species-defining fossils—holotypes—of both the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex and the massive herbivore Apatosaurus louisae.

It is also home to what is arguably the most famous dinosaur skeleton in the world: Diplodocus carnegii, discovered in 1899 during an expedition funded by industrialist Andrew Carnegie. Known as “Dippy,” the long-necked dinosaur’s replica casts are displayed in museums worldwide.

“This is a dinosaur town,” said Matt Lamanna, the museum’s curator of vertebrate paleontology. “It’s a source of civic pride.”

The Kamins’ donation will fund the first major renovation of the museum’s dinosaur exhibit in nearly 20 years. The majority of their gift will also establish an endowment to support ongoing research.

“I know how hard it is to get money for research and even positions,” said Carole Kamin, an emeritus member of the museum’s advisory board. “I just feel really, really good about this, knowing that it’s going to help have the right people there.”

Natural history museums are more than exhibition spaces—they preserve the world’s biological and cultural history.

“There’s so much changing so rapidly, especially as it relates to biodiversity and the environments that we all call home,” said Gretchen Baker, director of the Carnegie Museum. “Natural history museums are really the only place that can provide that kind of context because we have the actual specimens and evidence of that change over time.”

However, many institutions face financial struggles. Duke University recently announced the closure of its herbarium, one of the country’s largest collections of plant, fungi, and algae specimens. The Paleontological Research Institution in Ithaca, N.Y., revealed in January that it lost $30 million in pledged donations, putting its Museum of the Earth at risk.

Despite these challenges, some museums have received major donations to revamp their dinosaur exhibits and support research. Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History received a $160 million gift in 2018, while billionaire Kenneth C. Griffin donated over $21 million to Chicago’s Field Museum between 2016 and 2017.

Griffin also purchased a Stegosaurus fossil, known as “Apex,” at auction for $44.6 million last year and lent it to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The fossil is now on display in the museum’s newly opened Gilder Center, a $465 million expansion funded in part by philanthropist Richard Gilder.

The Kamins’ donation to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History follows their $65 million gift last year to the Carnegie Science Center.

Their combined $90 million contribution is the largest private donation to the Carnegie Museums since Andrew Carnegie himself.

Private funding is becoming increasingly vital for scientific institutions, especially as federal support faces potential cuts.

“We exist because of private philanthropy because Andrew Carnegie wanted to give back to the city where he had built his extraordinary wealth,” said Steven Knapp, president, and CEO of Carnegie Museums. “It’s kind of at the heart of what makes it possible for institutions like ours to exist and to thrive.”

For Carole Kamin, this donation ensures that future generations will be inspired—just as she was.

“It’s a source of education for young people—of being curious about our world in general—and it sparks the interest in and curiosity of how the world even began,” she said.

“It’d be a lonely planet without having them.”