Dive Brief:
- Thomas Jefferson University has received a $110 million gift, which it is calling the largest in its history and the fifth-largest gift ever to a U.S. accredited medical college.
- With the donation, Jefferson Medical College has been renamed in honor of its benefactor and is now the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University.
- The donation will be used to establish a scholarship fund to attract top medical students to the Philadelphia, PA, college; a capital fund for building facilities; an innovation and research fund for attracting faculty; and an endowment fund for recruiting faculty and supporting research and publication.
Dive Insight:
Sidney Kimmel, 86, is worth $1.3 billion, according to Forbes, having made his fortune in fashion. He previously donated $10 million to Jefferson in the 1990s for a cancer research center. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Kimmel was impressed with the leadership of Dr. Steve Klasko, the former DJ, obstetrician, "science fiction medical business book" author, and dean of Drexel University’s College of Medicine who was recently appointed president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Thomas Jefferson University Health System. Klasko says he wants Jefferson to be “the Apple to Microsoft," with similarly transformative innovations.
