The capital campaign just got close to a half a billion dollar infusion. Sadly, MetaEzra doens't have the scoop on this one. But the New York Times does: The medical school, based in Manhattan, will use the money for research into and treatment of obesity, diabetes, cancer and the diseases of aging, especially Alzheimer's, which carries a special poignancy for Mr. Weill. His mother died of the disease more than 10 years ago. With the latest gift and $250 million in other donations since October, the medical school is halfway to its goal of raising $1.3 billion by 2011. The Weills are contributing $250 million of the $400 million donation. Corinne and Maurice R. Greenberg are giving $25 million, and their charity, the Starr Foundation, is giving another $25 million. A donor who does not wish to be named is giving $100 million... The Weills previously donated $200 million to Cornell’s medical school, which changed its name in their honor in 1998. Mr. and Mrs. Weill are also giving an additional $50 million today to Cornell University, Mr. Weill’s alma mater, to help pay for research in genomics and other life sciences. Mr. Weill, whose father was a dressmaker and whose mother was a bookkeeper, said all of his gifts to Cornell added up to “a fourth or a third of my net worth, something like that.” A group of philanthropists led by Joan and Sanford I. Weill plans to announce today that it has pledged $400 million to build research centers and to recruit senior scientists for Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
Well, at least Ithaca got something...
Update: This Weill Cornell press release contains all the details. Interestingly, even though Ithaca's $50 million gift is vastly overshadowed by the $400 million for Weill Cornell, it still represents the largest gift ever given to the Ithaca campus by an individual. Some more:
* State-of-the-art facilities, including a proposed Biomedical Research Building, to be built on East 69th Street, giving researchers and scientists the cutting-edge tools and increased space for accelerated innovation and biomedical discovery. Labs will be designed in an open-floor layout, fostering communication and collaboration among scientists and creating synergies for translational research. As the first new research facility built on the Weill Cornell campus in two decades, it will keep New York City at the epicenter of biomedical research.* Collaborative research between Weill Cornell Medical College and Cornell University in Ithaca: New translational research programs will promote scientific synergies by the world-renowned experts working on both campuses. Of Mr. and Mrs. Weill's total gift, $25 million will fund research collaborations between the campuses in Ithaca and New York City, and will establish the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology at the University.
