UF Receives Record Gift To Benefit Research At Brain Institute

May 8, 2000

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida has received a $15 million gift — its largest single cash gift to date — that will be used for medical research of the brain, officials announced today.

The McKnight Brain Research Foundation, based in Miami, gave the gift to the UF Brain Institute. The gift will be used to support fundamental research intended for clinical application to help alleviate memory loss associated with aging.

The gift is eligible for a 100 percent match from the state of Florida Trust Fund for Major Gifts, which would bring its total value to $30 million. In recognition of this donation, the University of Florida Brain Institute and the building that houses its principal operations will be named the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida, pending necessary approvals.

“The McKnight gift for brain research in the area of memory loss signifies a quantum move in the national research arena,” said Dr. Kenneth Berns, UF vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine. “We applaud the McKnight Brain Research Foundation for their investment and confidence in the University of Florida.”

The establishment of the McKnight Brain Research Foundation provides a legacy of support for research toward the understanding of memory and the specific influences of the natural aging process. Evelyn McKnight established the foundation in 1999 to provide support for medical research of the brain to accomplish alleviation of memory loss of the aging, including making grants to charitable organizations involved in such research.

McKnight, who was a nurse, and her husband, William, were very interested in effects of aging on memory. Both are deceased. William McKnight was chairman of the board of the 3M Corp. for 59 years prior to his death in 1978. Evelyn McKnight continued to support his interest in brain research in memory loss until her death in 1999.

Dr. J. Lee Dockery of Gainesville, Dr. Nina Ellenbogen Raim of Miami Beach and Dr. Michael L. Dockery of Charlotte, N.C., serve as foundation trustees. Richard H. Chapman, SunTrust Bank, Miami, serves as corporate trustee, and Henry H. Raattama Jr. of Miami serves as legal counsel.

The UF Brain Institute is the center of all brain and spinal cord research on the UF campus. About 300 UF researchers from 50 academic departments and 10 colleges, with collaborators at more than 75 universities and research institutes around the world, pool their talents to make important discoveries about the brain and transfer them to the patient. The 210,000-square-foot UF Brain Institute building opened in fall 1998.

“Brain and central nervous system disorders affect one in five Americans at any given time,” said William G. Luttge, executive director of the UF Brain Institute. “Devastating losses in memory and other cognitive problems are seen with many of these conditions.” Luttge said the best way to achieve meaningful breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of memory loss is through a major collaborative research program, coupled with state-of-the-art core research facilities, such as those at the UF Brain Institute.

“We are absolutely thrilled because the McKnight gift will dramatically synergize our efforts campuswide,” Luttge said. “It will help catalyze a wide array of new initiatives ranging from the development of high-resolution brain functional imaging technologies, to molecular and cellular studies of brain cell death and adaption resulting from aging, sensory experience, disease and injury.

“We can also examine the application of new gene delivery, cell replacement and motor/sensory rehabilitation treatment strategies in research patients,” he said.

Two million dollars of the McKnight gift is allocated for a research professorship, which, with the state match, will result in a $4 million chair in the College of Medicine. The chair will be known as The Evelyn F. McKnight Chair for Brain Research in Memory Loss.

The University of Florida is in the final year of a five-year, $750 million capital campaign. The “It’s Performance That Counts” campaign seeks private gifts for UF scholarships, faculty positions, facilities and technological enhancements to help the university produce top-quality performance in teaching and research. As of May 1, the campaign had raised more than $654 million in private commitments and state matching support for the university.