Office of the President, Lee C. Bollinger

Roy and Diana Vagelos Donate $50 Million for New Medical Education Building

September 27, 2010

Dear fellow member of the Columbia community:

We want to share with you news of a generous $50 million donation to CUMC from College of Physicians and Surgeons alumnus P. Roy Vagelos, MD, and his wife, Barnard alumna Diana Vagelos.  The gift will support the construction of a new medical and graduate education building, which will be built on the medical center campus and named in their honor.

The Vagelos gift marks the largest received for CUMC's capital campaign.  With its receipt, the campaign for the College of Physicians and Surgeons has raised more than $1 billion, making it one of the first medical schools in the nation to achieve this level of support.

It is clear that whatever the benefits Roy and Diana Vagelos may have gained from attending Columbia and Barnard, they have given even more back to our university through decades of service and support, and we are enormously grateful.  With this latest demonstration of generosity, they are helping establish a new sense of community and campus life at our medical center in Washington Heights that is so important to our attracting future generations of talented medical students and faculty.  Roy Vagelos's understanding of the resources required to train today's top medical researchers and clinicians, and his deep and abiding engagement with Columbia, have made him an invaluable partner in our long-term plans to enhance all aspects of life and learning at our medical center.

The new medical education building will ensure that Columbia continues to produce superior doctors and researchers, trained in the latest techniques, as medicine continues to evolve rapidly throughout the 21st century.  The building also will allow us to centralize key activities in a state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable facility that reflects our commitment to world-class education and the quality of student life.  This project is part of an overall medical center campus revitalization plan that will add green space, create a new front door to the medical school, consolidate student services, and renovate several existing buildings.

Roy and Diana's generosity of spirit is truly inspirational.  Generations of future medical and graduate students will benefit from their support and vision for Columbia.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger, President

Lee Goldman, Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine