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Vanderbilt Medical Center News and Public Affairs
FAMILY OF INGRAM INDUSTRIES FOUNDER GIVES $56 MILLION TO VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY'S EFFORTS TO FIGHT CANCER
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The family of the late businessman and philanthropist E. Bronson Ingram has pledged $56 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to advance the fight against the disease that killed Ingram in 1995.
VUMC is renaming its cancer center after Ingram in recognition of his and his family's longstanding support of the university. Ingram, founder of Ingram Industries Inc., served as president of the University Board of Trust from 1991 until his death, and he led the $560 million Campaign for Vanderbilt. The Ingrams also have endowed four professorships and funded numerous scholarships and research efforts. Last winter, the Ingrams pledged the largest gift in Vanderbilt's history, valued at more than $300 million. The cancer center gift is the first announced allocation and will launch a $100 million fund-raising campaign, led by Ingram's son Orrin H. Ingram II, Ingram Industries co-president and Ingram Barge Co. chairman.
"Because of the devastation cancer has caused my family, I have a very personal grudge against cancer," Orrin Ingram said. "We can't fight cancer by making the important discoveries in the lab, but we can make sure the scientists and doctors have the resources they need to make those discoveries." The investment will be used to recruit and retain leading researchers, provide state-of-the-art equipment, and expand Vanderbilt's efforts in cancer treatment, prevention, and research. "We are proud the Ingram family has demonstrated such confidence in us," said Vanderbilt University Chancellor Joe B. Wyatt. "With their generous support and the hard work and talent of our scientists and caregivers, we know the E. Bronson Ingram Cancer Center at Vanderbilt will be a significant contributor to the worldwide effort against cancer."
Dr. Richard Klausner, director of the National Cancer Institute, said that private gifts of this kind are critical. "While the NCI is the major supporter of cancer-related research in this country, government cannot win this battle alone," he said. "This gift to Vanderbilt's cancer center is an example of public-private partnership that is critical to sustaining the effort to conquer this disease."
VUMC has a long history of ground-breaking cancer-related research, including the work of two Nobel laureates, Earl Sutherland and Stanley Cohen. In 1995, Vanderbilt's cancer center became an NCI-designated center, one of only two in Tennessee and the only one in the state to focus on cancer treatment and research in adults and children. Bronson Ingram founded Ingram Industries Inc., in 1978. By the time of his death, the corporation included the nation's largest book distributor, an inland marine transportation business, an insurance company, the world's largest computer distribution company and a major audio and video distribution company. Today, the computer distributor has become a separate public company, Ingram Micro Inc., and the audio/video distribution is a separate, privately held company, Ingram Entertainment Inc.
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