U. of Pennsylvania Receives $100-Million to Establish Cancer Institute

The University of Pennsylvania has received a $100-million pledge for cancer research from Leonard Abramson, a health-insurance executive, and his wife, Madlyn.

The gift, from the Abramson Family Foundation in Jupiter, Fla., will be used to establish the Leonard & Madlyn Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at the university.

The couple will provide money on a project-by-project basis until the $100-million is spent. The gift will be used to attract leading scientists and physicians from around the world to the university to create better treatments, improve patient care, and try to find a cure for cancer.

Mrs. Abramson, a former schoolteacher and a current trustee of Penn, said that in addition to helping to find a cure for cancer, she hoped the gift would mean that more people would get the quality health care that she felt she received from the university’s medical center when doctors diagnosed breast cancer in her 12 years ago.

“Having been a cancer patient, I understand the importance of a patient-centered approach in all research and clinical activities,” Mrs. Abramson said. “High-quality, personalized care will be the ultimate goal of all our efforts.”

The gift is among the 10 largest made in 1997. It is the second-largest gift in Penn’s history: The university received $120-million for its capital campaign from Walter Annenberg in 1993.

Mr. Abramson, who founded U.S. Healthcare in Blue Bell, Pa., before it was sold to Aetna in 1996 for $8.9-billion, sat in the front row of the university auditorium during the announcement while his wife was at the speaker’s podium with university officials. Although Mr. Abramson kept a low profile and made no comments, Mrs. Abramson thanked him publicly: “Leonard, you made this all possible.” Mr. Abramson ranks No. 236 on Forbes magazine’s list of the nation’s wealthiest people, and the publication estimated his net worth at $760-million.

The Abramsons have been long-time donors to health-care groups and Jewish organizations. They have endowed two professorships at the medical school at Penn. In 1995, they donated $15-million for a pediatric research center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The University of Pennsylvania has long been a leader in cancer research. It is one of 31 institutions nationwide that is considered a “comprehensive cancer center” by the National Institutes of Health and therefore receives significant federal financing.

Penn officials said the Abramson gift would be used to focus on the types of cancer that kill the most people in America: lung, gastrointestinal, breast, prostate, and ovarian.

John H. Glick, Mrs. Abramson’s doctor for 12 years and a long-time Penn faculty member, was selected to head the new institute.

When asked if her gift to the school was influenced by her personal bout with cancer, Mrs. Abramson answered, “I hope I would have done it anyway.” She added, “I guess there is a theory that when bad things happen to the right people, good things happen from it.”