Philanthropist Lorry Lokey is giving Stanford University School of Medicine $75 million of his fortune to help pay for a $200 million stem cell research center that will bear his name. In announcing the gift, Lokey said that stem cells would become "as significant as the silicon chip that created Silicon Valley." His contribution follows a $43.6 million grant to Stanford from the California stem cell institute.
When the institute is completed, it will house 350 research scientists beavering away at developing new stem cell therapies. Some 60 laboratory benches will be reserved for visiting scientists. And Stanford is hoping to recruit new scientists to the area as well.
Lokey has now given away about $500 million; money he earned in 2006 when he sold the Business Wire to Berkshire Hathaway.
- here's the release on Lokey's gift
- read the story from the San Francisco Chronicle