The past week saw major, in some cases historic, gifts to several universities for purposes spanning research, student scholarships, and athletics. The total exceeded $100 million.
Yale University
At Yale University, the Blavatnik Family Foundation made a gift of $40 million to support the Blavatnik Fund for Innovation at Yale, a campus-wide initiative that provides support for investigators to translate their academic research into new healthcare solutions, companies and technologies.
Created with a $10 million grant from the Blavatnik Family Foundation in 2016, the Blavatnik Fund is Yale’s primary life science accelerator, where innovative research leads to the formation of new spin-out companies, industry partnerships and various medical breakthroughs.
The $40 million will enable Yale to expand research awards and provide further support to promote biomedical innovations. The new funds will also be used to increase the number of applicants through various faculty outreach and diversity initiatives, with the aim of of increasing the “innovation and diversity of Yale faculty among the Blavatnik applicants and awardees.”
Commenting on the gift in the university’s announcement, Yale President Peter Salovey said, “by providing essential resources to faculty members, the Blavatnik Fund for Innovation at Yale has helped to accelerate the pace of new research and technology, opened pathways for the flow of ideas and breakthroughs from the academy to industry, and helped to speed the deployment of discoveries for the benefit of society.”
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond has received a $10 million gift from an anonymous donor. It will be used to create endowed scholarships for students in the university’s Robins School of Business.
The donor was a Robins School alum, who studied accounting and finance and worked his way through college by stocking groceries. According to the university’s announcement, he said “he established this scholarship to help make a Richmond education accessible for other ambitious students like himself.”
“Access and affordability are among our highest priorities at the University of Richmond. We offer an exceptional educational experience for outstanding students from all over the country and world,” said President Kevin F. Hallock. “This gift will have an incredible impact on our ability to enhance financial support for remarkable students, and it is an inspiring example of Spiders helping Spiders. I am profoundly grateful to this alumnus for his commitment.”
California State University Channel Islands
California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) received a $30 million gift from the estate of Philippe and Arlette Larraburu. It’s the largest gift in CSUCI’s history.
“Words cannot express our tremendous gratitude to the Larraburu family for their trust in our University, backed by a gift that will provide so much for our students,” said CSUCI President Richard Yao, in the announcement of the estate gift. “A gift of this stature is a testament to the power of personal philanthropy and to the fact that CSUCI is a smart investment for donors, community partners, and students alike.”
There are no restrictions on how the gift can be used according to the university, but Yao suggested it would go toward capital projects.
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) has received a $25 million donation from Tampa General Hospital (TGH). It’s the largest gift ever for USF athletics.
The donation will be used to develop the Tampa General Hospital Center for Athletic Excellence, which will be located next to the new on-campus stadium USF is building, with a projected opening date of 2026. It will include clinical space, where TGH will provide behavioral health services and other assessment and treatment services.
“We are incredibly grateful to Tampa General Hospital for this historic gift and for their phenomenal partnership with USF that goes back decades,” said USF President Rhea Law in the announcement. “This investment in our students, our university and our community will have far-reaching positive impacts for generations to come.”
The Tampa General Hospital Center for Athletic Excellence will also serve as the home for the football and women’s lacrosse teams, providing locker rooms, sports medicine and treatment spaces, strength and conditioning rooms, coaches’ offices, training rooms, nutrition spaces and hydrotherapy pools.
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In addition to these four gifts totaling more than $100 million, the past week also saw the University of Kansas receive an anonymous $50 million donation for its business school, which was the largest gift in the school’s history.
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