Western Michigan U. Reveals $100-Million Medical School Donors
March 12, 2014 | Read Time: 1 minute
Western Michigan University will name its new medical school for the late Kalamazoo surgeon and inventor Homer Stryker in honor of a previously anonymous $100-million donation by his granddaughter and her husband, MLive.com and Forbes report.
Ronda Stryker and William Johnston were identified Tuesday as the source of the March 2011 gift that launched the medical-school effort. A collaboration between the university and two Kalamazoo teaching hospitals, the Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine will welcome its first class this fall.
Ms. Stryker and Mr. Johnston are both Western Michigan graduates, and Mr. Johnston is a university trustee. Stryker Corp., the Fortune 500 medical-supplies maker founded by Homer Stryker, made a “separate and significant” gift to the medical school, the university said.
The billionaire Stryker family is active in regional philanthropy, with Ms. Stryker’s brother, Jon, making The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Philanthropy 50 list of top U.S. donors from 2011 to 2013.
