In September the Batchelor Foundation
officially announced a $5 million challenge gift to the
Department of Pediatrics, with funds to be distributed
in annual $1.25 million installments. In order to receive
the full $5 million, the Miller School of Medicine Department
of Pediatrics must match $1.25 million each year in endowment
gifts toward any of the four priority divisions: Pediatric
Cardiology, Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Pediatric
Clinical Research, and Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine.
Once the funds are matched, the entire
$5 million gift will be divided as follows:
• $2 million
to endow a chair for the director of the Division
of
Pediatric
Cardiology;
• $2 million to endow a chair for the
chairman of the Department of Pediatrics; and
• $1 million to initiate an endowment
for the director of the Division of Pediatric Clinical
Research.
“It’s critical that we raise these funds,” says
Steven E. Lipshultz, M.D., professor and chairman of
the Department of Pediatrics. “By matching the
generous gift of the Batchelor Foundation, the Department
of Pediatrics can realize Mr. Batchelor’s quest
to enhance the world-class Batchelor Children’s
Research Institute by recruiting and retaining faculty
whose work improves the health and welfare of children.”
This gift is the latest in a series from
the Batchelor Foundation. The relationship between the
Batchelor Foundation
and the Department of Pediatrics began when George
E. Batchelor brought his 14-year-old son, Falcon, to
the
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine seeking
care for cystic fibrosis. Under the care of Robert
McKey Jr., M.D., founder and then-director of the University’s
Cystic Fibrosis Center, Falcon lived 20 more years.
Batchelor always had a deep and abiding
love for children. His life mission was to help sick
children in South Florida
and around the world. He found the perfect partnership
in the Department of Pediatrics and made a leadership
gift of $10 million to create the Batchelor Children’s
Research Institute at the Miller School of Medicine.
Later, Batchelor established a $5 million
endowment that yields $300,000 a year for the Micah Batchelor
Award
for Excellence in Children’s Health Research. This
prestigious award is the largest of its kind and supports
medical research to improve the health and lives of children
in perpetuity.
With Batchelor’s support, the UM Department of
Pediatrics has grown into one of the larger academic
pediatrics departments in the country, with impressive
teaching and educational programs, extensive clinical
care activities, and major research efforts.
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