Herbert and Florence Irving

Once in the history of a medical school, an individual with great vision, foresight and commitment to medical science emerges, and his impact is so profound that it resounds for generations. Herbert Irving is that individual. On November 5th, 2007, friends, family, Columbia faculty and some of the foremost physicians whose careers he has launched and nurtured gathered to celebrate Mr. Irving and his generosity of spirit on the occasion of his 90th birthday.
   Held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Temple of Dendur, the evening’s highlights included a salute from the Museum’s Director, Philippe de Montebello, along with a letter conveying birthday greetings from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, read by Columbia President Lee Bollinger. A painting of Herbert and Florence Irving commissioned by artist John Howard Sanden to be displayed in the Herbert Irving Pavilion was unveiled. Similar portraits will grace the Irving Cancer Research Center building on St. Nicholas Avenue and the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research on the 10th floor of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
   “Herbert and Florence Irving’s contributions have been, and continue to be, paramount to the growth of the Medical Center,” said Lee Goldman, M.D., executive vice president for Health and Biomedical Sciences and dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine, who co-hosted the gala with President & Chief Executive Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Healthcare System, Herbert Pardes, M.D.

Herbert Irving speaking at the gala celebration which was held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Temple of Dendur on November 5, 2007.

   “The generosity and enduring commitment of the Irvings have had an astounding impact on Columbia.”
   The most generous benefactors in the history of Columbia University Medical Center, the Irvings’ extraordinary largesse has strengthened the relationship between research and clinical care to a degree not seen since Edward Harkness donated the land and funds to create what became the world’s first academic medical center, Columbia-Presbyterian. For these efforts, Mr. Irving was awarded the Harkness Medallion in 1987.
   Supporting the Medical Center for almost four decades, Florence and Herbert Irving have made a series of extraordinary gifts to advance research, education and patient care.
   In the 1980s, they endowed two programs that have been central to the growth of the Medical Center— the Irving Scholars for Young Researchers and the Irving Center for Clinical Research (ICCR), now known as the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. The Irving Endowment supports many activities that are not funded by the National Institutes of Health Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA).
   The Irving Scholars’ Program was conceived as a program to assist young physician-investigators in their pursuit of interesting and potentially fruitful avenues of research considered too preliminary to receive NIH grant support. Since the program’s initiation two decades ago, Florence and Herbert Irving have helped 78 assistant professors to gain valuable experience during a critical time in their careers. A book containing letters of gratitude from many of the Irving Scholars whose careers he has launched and nurtured was presented to Mr. Irving during the evening-- many have gone on to make significant advances in research and clinical care.
   Some of the innovative projects and programs in medical research and clinical care that Mr. and Mrs. Irving have sponsored include a lead gift to support and name the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of only 39 National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers in the country, and the Herbert Irving Pavilion. They have also funded a program for disadvantaged students and a child and adolescent oncology center.
   Funding from the Irvings, together with a 2006 Clinical and Translational Science Award from the NIH—Columbia received one of the first 12 awards in the nation—enabled the University to create the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, which significantly expanded the resources and scope of Columbia’s General Clinical Research Center. The Irving Institute serves as the academic and intellectual home for the next generation of investigators at CUMC. Continuing the tradition of cutting edge clinical research first started at Columbia University in 1928, the focus of the Irving Institute is to transform the way clinical and translational research is conducted, enabling medical investigators to develop new treatments faster, and to deliver those treatments to patients more efficiently and more effectively.
   In 1998, the Irvings made a lead gift to launch the construction of the Irving Cancer Research Center, the hub of the Medical Center’s cancer research effort. The 300,000 square-foot facility houses nine floors of research facilities, as well as classrooms and the Avon Foundation Breast Imaging Center.
   “Florence and Herbert Irving have provided Columbia University Medical Center cancer investigators with a spectacular research environment that fosters collaboration and with generous financial support to undertake innovative research projects and to attract the best cancer researchers world-wide. The Cancer Center is most fortunate to have such extraordinary benefactors,” said Riccardo Dalla-Favera, M.D., Percy and Joanne Uris Professor of Clinical Medicine and director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.
   The couple created the Herbert Irving Professorship, along with four additional professorships and, most recently, the Irvings provided gifts to expand the Irving Oncology Outpatient Facilities, the Irving Infusion Center, and to create the Irving Oncology Inpatient Unit at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
   Mr. Irving is co-founder and former vice chairman of SYSCO Corp, a company that evolved from Global Frozen Foods, which he and his brother-in-law began in the 1940s. He joined the company fresh from serving in the Army during World II during an auspicious time—the armed forces had just begun to utilize what was then considered a novel frozen food method to supply the troops. Subsequently, Mr. Irving built the small company into the largest frozen-food distributorship in New York City.
   Avid art collectors, pieces from their important collection of Asian art appear at the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the Florence and Herbert Irving Galleries for the Arts of South and Southeast Asia.

“Herbert and Florence Irving are one-of-a-kind and it is indeed a privilege to share in the occasion of Herbert’s 90th birthday. Because of their generosity and concern, we have the Irving Institute, a unique home for our NIH-funded Clinical Translational Science Award. Not only have the Irvings lent financial support, they have made Columbia a part of their lives. Most importantly, they have, in addition to providing funds for bricks and mortar, changed the lives of young clinical investigators.” Henry Ginsberg, M.D., Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research

“Herb and Florence adopted a medical center and in the process have given us an extraordinary gift both in terms of their generosity in supporting our academic excellence and their deep affection for what we are and what we hope to be. Their compassion and commitment are all the more enhanced by Herb’s rapier wit and Florence’s calm reassuring presence.” David R. Bickers, M.D., Carl Truman Nelson Professor of Dermatology; Department Chairman - Dermatology

“Florence and Herb Irving, through their personal involvement and generous philanthropy, have made the Medical Center part of their extended family. I feel so blessed to be one of their physicians, and to have enjoyed their warm and wonderful friendship. In addition, I am grateful for their beneficence to vision research.” Stanley Chang, M.D., Edward S. Harkness Professor of Ophthalmology and K. K. Tse and Ku Teh Ying Professor of Ophthalmology; Department Chairman - Ophthalmology

“Truly, in our generation, there is no single person who has done as much as you have to help Columbia University Medical Center.” Steven Shea, M.D., M.S., Hamilton Southworth Professor of Medicine and Professor of Epidemiology and Senior Associate Dean, College of Physicians and Surgeons

“Your support enabled me to identify the cause of a rare and fatal disease called mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy.” Michio Hirano, M.D., Associate Professor of Neurology

“All of us at Columbia, especially the Irving Scholars, are so grateful for your unwavering support over the years. Your vision and commitment to improving the lives of others through biomedical research, the training of a generation of clinician-scientists and the development of key infrastructure here at the medical center is unparalleled. We are proud to carry the name Irving on our curricula vitae and try our best to honor it.” E. Sander Connolly, Jr., M.D., Associate Professor Neurological Institute

“I am forever indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Irving for supporting me in my formative years as an Irving Scholar. This critical early support, so typical of your philanthropic wisdom, jump-started my career path in academic medicine.” Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., Professor of Surgery; Vice Chairman, Cardiovascular Services; Director, Cardiovascular Institute

“Your support, wrapped in personal interest and involvement, was a very nurturing gift to a young researcher.” Eric Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director, the Marian W. Fischman Memorial Cocaine Research Laboratory

The start of a new year signals an opportune time for making resolutions, setting goals and taking measure of progress made. At the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the chief goal is to create the best possible working environment so that the best faculty, students, and staff can advance medical care, research, and education. To achieve these goals, a key strategy is increasing endowment so that more of our tenured faculty have endowed chairs. In this way, we will continue to attract and retain stellar talent who will help us to define the future of medicine.

We must also develop new education space to provide superior training for our students as we prepare them to be tomorrow’s leaders. One of our priorities is to develop a new, state-of-the-art education building that will be second to none on the East Coast. As the central educational venue for P&S, the new facility will provide a haven for students, faculty, staff and alumni, and will house new classrooms equipped with the latest technology, a clinical skills center for teaching and evaluating key medical examination skills, and a center that will utilize cutting-edge virtual reality software to simulate clinical environments and situations. Every aspect of the building will enrich the educational experience and help ensure our place as a global leader among medical schools.

As we look to the future, we should also celebrate the many accomplishments of the past year. Some of these, by the numbers, include $900 million—this represents the accumulative gifts and pledges received through December for our capital campaign (which began in 2003), and now stands at 90% of goal. We celebrated the 90th birthday of our foremost benefactor, Herbert Irving, and the prestigious College of Dental Medicine commemorated its 90th anniversary. These are only a few of our many recent successes.

Gifts from our family of supporters are the bedrock on which the Medical Center is sustained. During the past year, your gifts provided—and continue to provide—the momentum we need to move forward and meet unprecedented benchmarks, as we find new ways to refine clinical care, educate tomorrow’s medical leaders and make groundbreaking research discoveries. In this issue of todate, you will see examples of the fine ways in which our faculty, friends and benefactors help Columbia to set new standards in healthcare.

Thank you for your support.

John Catsimatidis	John Eastman	Michael Jaharis	Ilan Kaufthal

JOHN CATSIMATIDIS is founder and Chairman and CEO of the Red Apple Group, a privately held company with holdings in oil refining, retail petroleum products, convenience stores, supermarkets, real estate and aviation. Mr. Catsimatidis opened his first store on the Upper West Side in 1968, while a student at the Bronx campus of New York University. That store evolved into what became Manhattan’s largest, high quality supermarket chain and a staple of New York City life, Gristedes’ Supermarkets.
   Mr. Catsimatidis was honored in 2007 by New York’s Appeal of Conscious Foundation for his active role in supporting religious freedom around the world.
JOHN EASTMAN has been a partner with Eastman & Eastman from 1965 to present. He received his B.A. from Stanford University in 1961 and his LLB from New York University Law School in 1964. Mr. Eastman was a trustee of Smith College from 1989-1999, and co-chaired Smith’s $400 million capital campaign. He is a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History; a director of the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP); a director of the National Music Publishers Association; a director of Apple Corps Limited (Beatles); a director of United Television, Inc. (1985 – 2001); and BHC Communications, Inc. (Chris-Craft Industries) from 1989 - 2001. Mr. Eastman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations..
MICHAEL JAHARIS is the co-founder of Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and served as its Chairman Emeritus until 2006. Prior to Kos, Mr. Jaharis was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Key Pharmaceuticals, where he developed and executed strategies that grew the company from a few small cough and cold products to a worldwide leader. He was also vice president and director of the Ethical Drug Division at Miles Laboratories.
   Mr. Jaharis received his B.A. from Carroll College and his law degree from DePaul University. He is a co-founder and director of Arisaph Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held drug discovery and design biopharmaceutical company. He also established Vatera Capital, a healthcare investment boutique focused on identifying and developing innovative companies within the life sciences sector.
ILAN KAUFTHAL is Vice Chairman of Investment Banking at Bear Stearns & Co., Inc. Prior to joining the firm in May 2000, he was vice chairman and head of mergers and acquisitions for thirteen years at Schroder & Co. Inc.
   Previously, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of NL Industries, Inc., a firm in the chemicals and petroleum services businesses. He received a B.S. in engineering in 1969 from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business at New York University. Mr. Kaufthal is a trustee of The Russell Berrie Foundation.
   “I am delighted to welcome these four exceptional, forward-thinking executives to the Board,” said Lee Goldman, M.D. “They bring valuable perspective to our already strong group, and I look forward to working with them as we plan the future together.”
   “I extend a warm welcome on behalf of the Board of Visitors and everyone at the Medical Center,” said P. Roy Vagelos, M.D., who chairs the Board as well as CUMC’s capital campaign, Defining the Future. “Their experience, drive, and talented leadership will be of great benefit to Columbia going forward.”
   Conceived in 2005, the board creates a venue for members to exchange ideas and discuss matters relating to the capital campaign and other campus initiatives. Members provide high-level guidance in charting the future of Columbia University Medical Center.