Theodore R. Johnson never made more than $14,000 a year, but he invested wisely -- so wisely that he made $70 million. Now he is donating $36 million of his fortune for education.

"I wanted to do something with the money to help education," Mr. Johnson, a 90-year-old retired executive for United Parcel Service of America Inc., said today in his apartment in this South Florida retirement community. "Need is the thing. There are so many kids that can't go to college."

Much of the scholarship money will go to students from middle-class families who may fail to qualify for government aid financially or academically but whose families cannot afford to send them to college. The rest will help poor students, the deaf and American Indian students.

Mr. Johnson, who has set up large trust funds for his son, Theodore, and for his two grandchildren and a nephew, intends to divide the scholarships from his educational fund among six groups.