[Georgetown University and the Washington DC skyline, courtesy of the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience]
Philanthropic gifts can be motivated by any number of factors. Sometimes they're given by alumni or prominent members of the business community in the area. In the case of Douglas and Sandra Bergeron's recent gift of $1.25M to the Georgetown University Medical Center (GMUC), the couple wished to honor Douglas' father George, who had multiple sclerosis and was a powerful force in MS patient advocacy in his community in Ontario for many years. The endowment will establish a new Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery and fund the George Bergeron Endowed Professorship to support a bioscience researcher (and director of the new center) engaged in cutting-edge work in the fight against neurologial disease.
Douglas Bergeron is CEO of VeriFone Inc. and a major shareholder in the company now valued at over $5B. He and his family live in Silicon Valley, California. Previously they gave $2M to the MS Society of Canada, where Doug received his B.A. and where his father George lived. Doug and Sandra Bergeron are Georgetown parents. [Photo of the couple, right, courtesy of Business Wire]
The University is currently in the midst of a $1.5 billion fundraising campaign, For Generations to Come, with these GUMC goals:
Georgetown University Medical Center Priorities
GEORGETOWN LOMBARDI COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER
- Develop the Georgetown Database of Cancer (G–DOC©)
- Support breast, gastrointestinal and prostate cancer research and therapy
- Invest in programs in population sciences and cancer disparities
BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH ENTERPRISE
- Advance research in neurologic diseases
- Train the next generation of physician-scientists
- Fund translation of scientific discoveries into clinical applications
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- Fund medical student scholarships
- Create the W. Proctor Harvey medical teaching amphitheater
- Transform learning spaces into next–generation classrooms
New building construction continues at GUMC, as does construction on the University's future science building (below, in a recent photo), which we reported on in an earlier blog: New Georgetown Life Science Building and Future Medical Expansion.
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