University of Iowa President Sally Mason announced today a $26.4 million gift commitment from longtime UI benefactors John and Mary Pappajohn of Des Moines -- the largest single gift commitment ever for the UI from individual Iowa donors -- and said it will provide the university's new interdisciplinary Institute for Biomedical Discovery with "the catalyst it needs to reach its full potential."
In recognition of the Pappajohns' gift, the institute will be named the Pappajohn Institute, and the building that houses it the John and Mary Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building. The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, approved the naming of the institute and the building at its meeting today in Cedar Falls.
The Pappajohns' most recent gift for the UI, among the largest gift commitments ever received by the UI Foundation, brings their total cumulative giving for the UI to $38.6 million.
"The University of Iowa is deeply grateful to John and Mary Pappajohn for this historic gift. Our relationship with the Pappajohns is based not only on their generosity, but also -- and perhaps more importantly -- on their vision," Mason said. "In an age when the university is reinventing itself in response to the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century, John and Mary Pappajohn are leaders in helping the UI advance research and education in service to our changing society.
"The Pappajohn Institute and John and Mary Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building will be the centerpieces of Iowa's innovative discoveries in the life sciences, providing transformative approaches to health care, unprecedented educational opportunities and unique possibilities for economic development," Mason continued. "We thank the Pappajohns for their generous role in making the University of Iowa an even more remarkable institution."
The Pappajohn Institute will provide, in a single facility, a unique environment in which a broad spectrum of university researchers and scientists can collaborate to explore high-risk, high-yield research opportunities in the life sciences. The 200,000-square-foot, six-story facility, located next to the Carver Biomedical Research Building on the UI health sciences campus, will house laboratories and office space dedicated to leading-edge, cross-disciplinary research involving scientists from across the entire campus. The building is part of a larger university effort to bring together scientists from multiple disciplines to pursue biomedical research leading to new treatments for patients, create new educational opportunities for students and bolster Iowa's economy through new jobs and business partnerships.
"This institute at Iowa offers tremendous hope for significant advances in several crucial areas of biomedical research," John Pappajohn said. "In addition, this world-class research enterprise will provide the state with promising economic development opportunities, and it will help put Iowa and the UI 'on the map' and receive due credit for their well-earned reputations.
"Mary and I are especially inspired by the institute's collaborative, entrepreneurial and university-wide dimensions. It's our conviction that the prospects for strong returns on philanthropic investment in this institute are excellent," Pappajohn added. "And those who stand to gain the most from the institute's performance will be generations of patients nationwide and around the world."