Floyd Announces Largest Private Gift in WSU History
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Calling it a truly transformational gift, WSU President Elson S. Floyd announced at a Monday news conference a $25 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fund the new School for Global Animal Health. The grant is the largest private financial gift in WSU history.
The grant will help jumpstart the new school, approved by the WSU Board of Regents at its Mar. 21 meeting, contributing to the construction of a $35 million building on the Pullman campus that will be the centerpiece of the new school.
The school, which officially came into existence with the regents’ vote, will focus on researching links between animal and human health. Zoonotic diseases, those that can be transmitted from animals to humans, account for more than 70 percent of human infectious diseases.
Floyd said that the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine, in which the school is being housed, is a worldwide leader in research on the links between animal and human health.
“The generous support of the Gates Foundation is truly transformational,” Floyd said. “The work of WSU researchers will be dramatically enhanced and the results of their work could impact countless lives in this country and around the globe.”
Fil Randazzo, senior program officer for Global Health Discovery at the Gates Foundations said that WSU’s global reputation in this area was a critical factor.
“We congratulate WSU for its groundbreaking work in this area,” Randazzo said. “That reputation is what lead the foundation to make this grant.”
The new school’s director, Guy Palmer, said a great deal of groundwork has already been done for establishing the school but a great deal remains to be done.
“We greet this grant with a sense of opportunity, but also a sense of urgency,” he said.
For more details visit the Global Animal Health Web site.
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