As we celebrate our Classes of 2007 and the completion of an outstanding academic year, I am pleased to acknowledge a few of the many contributions that our family of supporters provided during the past fiscal year to further Columbia University Medical Center's scientific, educational, and clinical missions. All of our schools have active fund-raising efforts under way, and we have collectively raised $824 million in the first 4 years of our 7-year campaign. We are enormously grateful to our diverse group of donors for the faith they have in us, and for their generous gifts that fuel our future and assure continued excellence.
Lee Goldman
EVP & Dean
COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS
An anonymous grateful patient has made a first-time outright gift of $1 million to establish an unrestricted endowment fund that can be used by the chairman of the Department of Urology to support the priorities of the department’s general needs.
The Boomer Esiason Foundation has pledged $6 million to establish the Gunnar Esiason Adult Cystic Fibrosis and Lung Program in the Department of Medicine. This pledge complements prior support made by the Foundation for Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis program.
The Charles Engelhard Foundation and Sally Engelhard Pingree, Trustee, have made a gift of $1.16 million to the Department of Psychiatry to support a young adult treatment program for at risk students on college campuses. The Engelhard Foundation focuses on philanthropic projects for higher and secondary education, cultural, medical, religious, wildlife and conservation organizations.
Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. has made a gift of $5 million through the Gerstner Family Foundation to establish the Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Scholars Fund, which will support physician-scientists who conduct translational research that is designed to bring new treatments to patients. Four young faculty members will be selected annually for a three year term. Each will hold the special honor of being named a Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Scholar.
Columbia University Trustee Gerry Lenfest made a $1 million gift to endow the Gerry Lenfest Financial Aid Fund. This fund will support need-based scholarships at P&S.
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Lieber and the Essel Foundation have made a gift of $9 million to expand the Lieber Center for Schizophrenia Research. The gift will be distributed among research initiatives, a Translational Therapeutics Professorship, and the new Lieber Clinic for Comprehensive Care.
A grateful family has made a generous $2 million pledge to endow a professorship for the clinical director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center. This gift complements an earlier $2 million pledge by Joseph and JoAnn Murphy to endow the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center research director professorship.
In recognition of our outstanding cardiovascular care and research programs, two foundations recently made significant philanthropic commitments to this area. A family foundation pledged $2 million in much-needed unrestricted support, and The Jerome L. Greene Foundation provided $1.5 million toward our Cardiac Valve Program.
The Merrill Lynch Foundation has provided a generous gift of $3 million for the Taub Institute to support research into the genetic influences involved in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases of aging. This gift will be used to further the Institute’s mission to identify those at risk for Alzheimer's disease and related disorders and to develop means to prevent or delay the onset of these conditions.
The Frank V. Sica & Colleen McMahon Foundation has contributed an additional $1 million in support of the Pancreas Center. Under the leadership of Dr. John Chabot, the Pancreas Center fosters a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of pancreatic cancer and sponsors basic and clinical research to investigate the biology of the disease.
Lynn Shostack has provided a $3 million pledge to launch the David A. Gardner New Initiatives Fund, an unrestricted fund for the CUMC EVP. This spring we announced the funding of two pilot faculty research initiatives: a P&S five-discipline team studying bacterial pneumonia and a four-school team studying social inequities in oral health and peripheral vascular disease. Ms. Shostack’s support will also fund the establishment of a new Genetics core that is being developed.
Jerry and Emily Spiegel, long-time supporters of neuroscience research at P&S have pledged $2 million to establish an endowed chair for a neuroscience researcher who holds a joint appointment in a clinical and basic science department. The Spiegel family is committed to furthering neurological stem cell research.
Columbia University alumnus Leonard Tow and his wife, Claire, have pledged $12 million through the Leonard and Claire Tow Charitable Trust to support recruitment, research, and management of the Center for Motor Neuron Biology and Disease to advance science that is relevant to ALS or motor neuron biology.
P&S alumnus George Violin, MD, has made a series of gifts that total more than $500,000 to support the Wu Center for Molecular Cardiology. Dr. Violin and his wife Joan have established a fund to provide ongoing support to the Center and plan to continue support that will fund priorities of the Wu Center.
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MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
An anonymous donor has made a first-time gift to establish and endow the Donald H. Gemson Scholarship Fund at the Mailman School of Public Health. The Donald H. Gemson Scholarship Fund will provide annual scholarship support to a Mailman School doctoral student whose career interests are in health promotion and disease prevention.
Two anonymous donors made commitments totaling $2 million to the Allan Rosenfield Tribute Fund, in support of the Mailman School of Public Health's campaign to renovate and upgrade our facilities.
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SCHOOL OF NURSING
The School of Nursing, in partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, received multi-million dollar funding from the Atlantic Philanthropies for a training program, "Enhanced Human Resources for Sexual and Reproductive Health: Continuing Professional Development of Midwives in an Era of HIV." This initiative will develop and evaluate a training program of ongoing seminars.
The School of Nursing also received $250,000 from the Hearst Foundation to endow financial aid support for School of Nursing students.
The School of Nursing has been awarded a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for $500,000 over 2 years to support a national credentialing process for the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DrNP) degree. This support will develop a credentialing program for practitioners in this new model of delivery of clinical care.
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COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE
An anonymous donor has pledged $500,000 to the College of Dental Medicine for the oral health initiative in the Millennium Villages Project.
The P&G Company provided $100,000 toward its commitment to the College of Dental Medicine Mobile Dental Center. The two-chair dental van provides professional oral health care to many of the underserved members of our community.
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