The Danforth Foundation has pledged a gift of $100 million to Washington University to endow programs of importance to the University and to the St. Louis community, according to an announcement made Friday, Nov. 14, by University Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton and Foundation Board Chairman John C. Danforth.
Danforth said: "We at the Danforth Foundation believe that it is vital for the future of St. Louis to have a world-ranked research and teaching university of the absolute highest quality. We are pleased with our past investments in the University and believe that our gift will be well utilized by the University in its service to St. Louis, our region and greater society."
Wrighton said: "The faculty, staff and students of Washington University are deeply grateful for the extraordinary support the Danforth Foundation Board has committed to us and for the confidence in the University it represents. The University's progress to date would not have been possible without the foundation's previous support. We pledge that this generous new investment in the University will be utilized in ways that will make the foundation and the people of St. Louis proud."
The $100 million gift is a five-year pledge from the foundation, which is headquartered in St. Louis. William H. and Adda B. Danforth and their daughter and son, Dorothy Danforth Compton and Donald Danforth, established the foundation in 1927. John C. Danforth and University Board of Trustees Chairman William H. Danforth are Donald Danforth's sons.
During its 70 years of operation, the foundation has assisted persons throughout the United States in furthering their education and extending their abilities to contribute to society. In May 1997, foundation trustees decided to concentrate resources exclusively in the St. Louis metropolitan area and broadened the focus to include other important civic and community issues, in addition to education. It is the goal of the foundation to use its resources for the long-lasting benefit of the region and to work in partnership to leverage other resources. Through the year 2002, the foundation will honor all of its long-term commitments ($39 million) made to its national and local grantees in the area of precollegiate education.
According to Wrighton, the gift will have a "transforming effect" on the University and its ability to serve society. He said the gift will impact the University in several important ways:
1. Supporting biology and biomedical sciences including plant sciences, biomedical engineering, and chemistry. This support will help ensure that St. Louis will remain a leader in improving health care, as well as enhancing the region's scientific base and providing opportunities for the development of new businesses.
2. Advancing the social sciences and the George Warren Brown School of Social Work in ways that promote the ties between the University and other institutions in the region to bring direct benefit to the community.
3. Enhancing the experience of the University's students both inside and outside the classroom, thereby helping to ensure a steady flow of outstanding young people to St. Louis.
Wrighton pointed out that the endowment gift will be used to advance these areas of importance to the University and to the region. "We have identified initiatives that both build on our strengths and bring to Washington University and to St. Louis important new programs," he said. "Collectively, I believe, they hold the promise to become programs whose accomplishments and discoveries can bring great benefit to St. Louis, to the bi-state region and society."
William H. Danforth, chairman of the University Board of Trustees and past chancellor, said, "It is our belief that Washington University best serves St. Louis by being a world-class university; by attracting outstanding students and faculty to St. Louis; and by deepening understanding of the problems, solutions and opportunities of society, particularly those in our community. We believe our research leadership in the biological sciences and medicine will expand into new disciplines that can be an important economic engine for the region."
During a three-year strategic planning process initiated in the early 1990s, the University and its schools identified priorities for the next decade and recommended specific plans to achieve those objectives. The plans were developed by the deans and the faculty of each school with the advice and assistance of their National Councils to help the University better carry out its mission of teaching, research and service to society.
Since 1991, foundation grants have supported a variety of national and metropolitan St. Louis projects in three specific areas: a good beginning for every child; school, family and community partnerships; and leadership for schools. In 1996-97, support included technical assistance, program development and employee matching gifts.
Danforth Foundation President Bruce J. Anderson said: "This foundation gift is intended to help continue the tradition of excellence long demonstrated by Washington University, in keeping with the foundation's recent change of focus and renewed commitment to the St. Louis region. We at the foundation look forward to Washington University's continued contribution to St. Louis through its important research, teaching and service activities for years to come."
The University attracts some of the world's most talented individuals to serve on its faculty, and they enrich the intellectual, professional and cultural life of the community. All 21 of the Nobel laureates who have ties to St. Louis have been associated with the University, and the same is true for all but one of the nine St. Louisans who have won Pulitzer Prizes for literature.
The University is a regional center for teaching and research. In addition to the 10,000 full-time students from around the world, the faculty provides continuing education to almost 5,000 St. Louisans each year. That same faculty attracts more than $250 million in federally funded research to the area, and the School of Medicine ranks third among the 125 medical schools in the United States in funding received from the National Institutes of Health.
The University and its partner hospitals provide the region with the best in medical care, and in a recent year, the School of Medicine contributed more than $32 million in free and unreimbursed medical care. The other institutions in the Washington University Medical Center contributed an additional $83 million.
The University also has been a major force in stabilizing the neighboring Skinker-DeBaliviere and University City communities, and, with its Medical Center partners, has helped revitalize physical structures and neighborhoods around the Medical Center to spur economic and social renewal -- most recently in the Forest Park-Southeast neighborhood. The University also supports improvement of elementary and secondary education through numerous programs, ranging from the Science Education Partnership to Total Quality Schools.
The economic impact of the University on St. Louis and the bi-state region is significant, with more than 9,000 individuals employed by the University and an additional 10,000 persons by the BJC hospitals in the Medical Center. Total expenditures by the University exceeded $830 million in fiscal year 1997. Many of these dollars come from outside the region via tuition and federally sponsored support of research, but most are spent locally.
-- M. Fredric Volkmann
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