Philanthropists Anne and Jerome Fisher W’53 have given $50 million to support a new biomedical-research center at Penn, as well as a professorship in hematology and oncology that will be named after their daughter, Jodi Fisher. It is one of the largest gifts in the University’s history. The Anne and Jerome Fisher Translational Research Center will emphasize an accelerated pace for the conversion of laboratory discoveries into medical therapies.
“Anne and I love Penn,” said Jerome Fisher, founder of Nine West Group and emeritus trustee of the University. “We have long felt that investing in this world-class university is investing in the future of humankind itself. We are especially pleased to be able to make a contribution that will impact advances in health care, something which touches everyone’s life.”
The Fishers have supported a broad range of University endeavors over the years, from the humanities to student financial aid. Their $14 million in previous donations helped to underwrite renovations to the Fisher Hassenfled College House and the Anne and Jerome Fisher Fine Arts Library, and to establish the Fisher Program in Management and Technology.
The Fisher Translational Research Center will be part of a troika of new buildings meant to bring clinical care and medical research into closer concert at Penn. It is slated to open in 2010, by which time the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine [“Gazetteer,” Jan|Feb 2006] and the Roberts Proton Therapy Center [“Gazetteer,” Jan|Feb 2007] should be up and running in adjacent locations. It will be designed by Rafael Vinoly Architects, whose academic portfolio includes specialized facilities for cancer research, genomics, nanosystems, and regenerative medicine.
—T.P.
