Al Taubman Gives $56 Million Gift to UM

Al Taubman, a major donor to the University of Michigan over the years, has committed another $56 million to fund medical research at UM – completing a gift of $100 million to the university for that purpose. This gift will support work at the Taubman Medical Research Institute. UM president Mary Sue Coleman announced the news at the April 21, 2011 regents meeting. Regents later approved the renaming of the biomedical science research building in honor of Taubman.

Coleman described the research – including work on ALS (known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) and other diseases – as high risk but high reward, saying Taubman’s gift would make a tremendous difference in finding cures for those diseases. Taubman also spoke at the meeting, describing some of his experiences with the university, particularly in support of stem cell research. The research holds great promise for finding cures, he said. “That’s what today’s announcement is all about.”

The gift brings the total of Taubman’s donations to UM to $141 million – he is the largest single donor to the university. His other gifts have supported the Taubman College for Architecture & Urban Planning, the UM Museum of Art, and the office of financial aid, among others.

This brief was filed from the regents boardroom at the Fleming administration building in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]