DreamWorks Co-Founder David Geffen Gives $200 Million to UCLA Medical School
PND - DreamWorks Co-Founder David Geffen Gives $200 Million to UCLA Medical School
Entertainment mogul David Geffen, co-founder of DreamWorks SKG, has donated $200 million to the University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine. The gift is the largest contribution ever given to a medical school in the United States.
The school — to be renamed the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA — plans to add the donation to its endowment, which stood at more than $587 million in June 2001. The gift will allow the school to enhance its research and teaching programs, provide more financial aid for students, recruit and retain outstanding faculty, attract the best medical and graduate students, and pursue new initiatives. Because it receives only 13 percent of its funding from the state, the school relies heavily on philanthropic donations, research grants, and patient care revenue.
"Los Angeles is my home and I want to do my part in contributing to its future," said Geffen. "I have great respect and affection for UCLA and my hope is that with this gift, UCLA's doctors and researchers will be better equipped to unravel medicine's mysteries — and deliver the cures for tomorrow."
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