Donors Give $20-Million for Psychiatric Research

How much: $20-million

Who got it: Washington University in St. Louis

Who gave it: Andrew and Barbara Taylor donated $10-million. Mr. Taylor is chairman and chief executive of Enterprise Holdings, the parent company of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, and Alamo Rent A Car. The other half comes from the Crawford Taylor Foundation, the family’s fund.

Connections to the university: Mr. Taylor is a university trustee and chair of the university’s $2.2-billion fundraising campaign, which was announced to the public this month. To date, the family has donated more than $70-million to the university.

What the gift will be used for: To establish the Taylor Family Institute for Innovative Psychiatric Research, a center focused on developing new treatments for mental illnesses.

Why they gave: Mark S. Wrighton, chancellor of the university, says they were concerned that government and pharmaceutical companies would not provide enough support for psychiatric research.

Impact of the gift: “Psychiatry has not attracted major philanthropic support. The fraction of the population that at one point or another in their lives will experience a psychiatric illness is very large,” Mr. Wrighton says. He says he hopes the gift “will stimulate others who have had this challenge in their families or in their businesses to come forward and support research in this area.”