Donation Jump Starts Keck Medicine Initiative
Yesterday, the Keck Medicine Initiative took off as the Keck School of Medicine received a large gift in the form of a $150 million donation by the W. M. Keck Foundation.
“The Keck Foundation has […] given us the momentum to launch the Keck Medicine Initiative and has given us the confidence to move boldly in the direction of our destiny,” USC President C.L. Max Nikias said before presenting Robert Day, Chairman and CEO of the Keck Foundation, to the crowd at the Health Sciences Campus celebration.
The Keck Medicine Initiative aims to garner $1.5 billion in donations – a quarter of USC's total donation goal. With these donations, the initiative emphasizes on four main goals: enriching medical education, advancing research, strengthening infrastructure, and enhancing patient treatment. The Keck family has been instramental in USC's development, with the extended family donating almost $300 million to date.
“We’re very proud as a family to be involved and we’re very proud as a foundation” Day announced to the crowd. “We believe that USC is moving in the right direction as it builds a great medical research institution.”
At the event, chairman of the USC Board of Trustees, Edward P. Roski, described the donation as “a catalyst for new ideas, new innovations, and new cures. It will support the doctors and the researchers who have dedicated themselves to discovery. And it will enhance the quality of care we provide to our patients and their families.”
At a luncheon following the event, Carmen A. Puliafito, dean of Keck School of Medicine said “this gift will help us continue to attract world class physicians and scientists who are making extraordinary advances against a full range of diseases.”
At the end of the celebratory ceremony, before presenting Day with a gift in the form of a painting illustrating the day’s events, Nikias closed the memorable ceremony with a few motivational words, saying “to succeed, we need every individual to join us in this collective effort – the doctors and the researchers, the satisfied patients and grateful families, our alumni and our loyal supporters. Together, we will not only rewrite the history of this school, we will also reshape the future of medicine.”
Watch this video featuring Keck School employees discussing what this donation means to them:
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