P&S Annual Report
Development
Record-Setting Philanthropic Support

Fiscal 1996 was a watershed year for philanthropic support to Columbia Health Sciences. The total for major gifts from individuals, foundations, and corporations surpassed the $50 million mark for the first time in the history of fund raising at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. It not only was a remarkable upswing in the financial strength of biomedical investment on the part of private contributors, it also marked a fresh sense of commitment for making undesignated gifts to underwrite the advancement of research, education, training, and treatment in academic medicine where and when the gifts are most needed. 

In 1995, the Office of the Vice President for Health Sciences established the Fund for the 21st Century to introduce a concept in fund raising that, while not new, has never been more important--replacing the traditional narrowly defined gift with flexible monies to underwrite unprecedented and unexpected costs. The Fund for the 21st Century was designed as a financial resource to meet rising costs in the face of diminishing income, manage unanticipated challenges, and support singular opportunities. 

Rapid changes in scientific technology, which have drastically increased the medical knowledge base, promise previously unimaginable advances in managing and curing disease. At the same time, biomedicine's habitual funding patterns, in which bioscientists compete for awards from federal and state agencies, have yielded smaller annual increases as the awards become more and more affected by budgetary constraints. Times of adversity and change, however, often strengthen institutional resolve to become proactive by preparing for the advent of a major crisis. Vice President Herbert Pardes conceived the Fund for the 21st Century as a vehicle that could maintain his organization's momentum under any unforeseen occurrence of stress. 

Even though the 21st Century fund-raising strategy asks donors to demonstrate considerable confidence in the institution's eventual use of their gifts, the initial year of the Fund proved to be immensely successful among both old and new friends of the Health Sciences. Since its inception, the Fund has made nearly $7 million available to the College of Physicians and Surgeons in support earmarked for meeting general categories of costs that continue to rise in spite of shrinking resources. Constance and Stephen Lieber, longtime supporters of the medical center, provided the leadership gift to launch the Fund. The Columbia-Presbyterian Health Sciences Advisory Council provided a significant portion of the total with gifts of approximately $2.6 million. This group of dedicated alumni, friends, and eminent professionals from biomedicine and industry, who serve Columbia as representatives and advisers under the leadership of Council Chairman Henry L. King, holds a place of prominence second only to the University Trustees. 

Funds raised through the 21st Century Fund support student scholarships; recruitment packages for academic and administrative leadership; maintenance of preeminent library and information systems; up-to-date technology for advancing research, education and training; programs to sustain excellence in the teaching environment; and high caliber security, personnel, and financial services. The Fund also offers immediate access to resources needed when unexpected expenses threaten the school or when faculty and the central administration have an opportunity to take advantage of progressive initiatives that should be judged on their merits rather than on budgetary considerations alone. 

The forward-looking spirit represented by the 21st Century Fund is also demonstrated by the remarkable increase in the number of endowed professorships established, particularly during this fiscal year. In 1995-96 alone, P&S established eight new professorships, equalling the number of chairs established throughout the first 200 years of the medical school's existence. These chairs bring both prestige and long-term income to P&S departments: 

The Jane Forbes Clark Professorship, Faculty of Medicine 

The Kenneth A. Forde Professorship of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine 

The Sidney Katz Professorship in the Morris W. Stroud III Center for Studies on Quality of Life 

The Lewis P. Rowland Professorship in the Department of Neurology 

The William and Joy Ruane Professorship of Pediatric Psychopharmacology in the Department of Psychiatry 

The Anne Youle Stein Professorship of Orthopaedic Surgery 

The Clyde and Helen Wu Professorship in Medicine/Cardiology in the Department of Medicine 

The Wu Professorship in Medicine/Oncology in the Department of Medicine 

Such an astonishing rise in gifts to create professorships is as significant for the future of Columbia as the initial success of the Fund for the 21st Century. Donors today recognize the wisdom of making gifts that extend their support to future generations and ensure a continuity of scientific discovery and improved treatment. 

Many donors also made important contributions to specific needs across the span of all departments during 1995-96. In some instances these gifts gave life to new programs, new positions, or new facilities, while others strengthened existing projects to ensure their success. Biomedical research received numerous major gifts for significant studies that will affect treatment in a wide range of human illnesses. 

Major gifts for 1995-96 were so numerous only a few can be mentioned here. Those chosen represent a variety of giving, but every gift made a significant difference to Columbia. Important contributions from the Marilyn and Henry Taub Foundation and the Blanchette Rockefeller Foundation were made to enhance exciting epidemiological and molecular investigations in Alzheimer's disease. The Department of Urology received a major contribution from philanthropist David Koch, which in turn attracted other large gifts to continue promising work in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. Osteoporosis research gained major support from the Stabile Family Foundation. The Ashkin family, through its foundation, has given money to introduce new efforts in diabetes. The future of neurological research at Columbia was extended with a leadership gift from Florence and Stanley Kaufelt to establish the Lewis P. Rowland Professorship. 

The reorganization and modernization of facilities and the purchase and maintenance of vital equipment became reality because alumni and friends of P&S were willing to help. Among the departments benefiting from other assistance was obstetrics & gynecology, where a new resource center was made possible by donations from the grateful patients of Dr. David Moore, for whom the facility will be named. In addition to endowing a professorship in orthopaedic surgery, Mrs. Anne Youle Stein provided the means to create a learning center for that department. Columbia-Presbyterian's new PET imaging center was helped by the good will of the Scheuer family foundation, which also made major contributions to the training of young investigators by establishing the Breast Cancer Scholars Program. The Margaret Milliken Hatch Trust provided training support for junior faculty specializing in cardiology and other funding for cardiac research. Assistance from the Hatch Trust in the past five years also has established endowments for three new professorships and aided significantly in funding a fourth, as well as creating an MRI Center and making generous scholarship assistance available. Dr. Judith Sulzberger continued the significant commitment, initiated earlier this decade, to support the work of the Human Genome Project. The Lowenstein Foundation underwrote programs in research, training, and facilities for children in psychiatric studies for disruptive behavior. The Joy and William Ruane Center, named for its donors, inaugurated programs dedicated to the early identification and treatment of mood disorders. 

The enlightened good will of these donors is invaluable to Columbia. Each donor's faith and encouragement in the work carried out at this academic medical center has the power to elevate those efforts to the highest levels of achievement.