Category: Philanthropy
Shipley Foundation Gives $10.5M to Redirect Fight against Prostate Cancer
Richard Shipley, a BU trustee, technology investor, and former CEO, gives the School of Medicine $10.5 million to create a prostate cancer research center on the Medical Campus, along with a website devoted to treatment options. The Shipley Prostate Cancer Research Center will focus on personalized medicine, seeking genomic approaches to determine which cancers are aggressive and need to be removed or radiated and which are not, eliminating unnecessary treatment with devastating side effects.
Board of Trustees Elects Kenneth Feld Its New Chair
Kenneth Feld (Questrom’70), who chairs the $1.5 billion Campaign for Boston University and is one of the University’s most generous benefactors, is elected by the Board on December 10, 2015, and will officially begin his term in September. Feld succeeds Robert A. Knox (CAS’74, Questrom’75), who has served as Board chair since 2008.
University Commits $50 Million for CFA Renovations
The University is bringing the theater arts program back to Comm Ave after a 33-year residence at the Boston University Theatre on Huntington Avenue. To that end, a new studio theater and a production facility will be built on the 808 block and a makeover of 855 will replace its forbidding street-level concrete façade with arched windows.
Campaign for Boston University Goal Boosted to $1.5 Billion
The singular success of the Campaign for Boston University, which had raised $888 million of its $1 billion goal two years before its scheduled close in 2017, persuades the Board of Trustees to boost the campaign’s goal to $1.5 billion and extend its run through 2019.
Yawkey Foundations Gift Goes to Work
Over the summer, the Yawkey Nonprofit Internship Program provides stipends for 14 BU sophomores and juniors. The program, which pays a stipend of $1,500 for an internship during the academic year and $3,000 for a summer internship, is funded by the Yawkey Foundations, which pledged $10 million in September 2014.
Welcome the Questrom School of Business
The School of Management is renamed the Questrom School of Business in recognition of a $50 million gift to the School from Allen Questrom (Questrom ’64), retired chief executive officer of several of the nation’s largest department and specialty stores, and his wife, Kelli. The gift, given through the Allen and Kelli Questrom Foundation, is the largest in Boston University’s history, endows 10 faculty chairs, and enables planning to establish a new graduate program facility.
New Pardee School of Global Studies Opens
The Pardee School of Global Studies is BU’s newest college and has the simple yet monumental mission of improving the human condition around the globe. It was founded with the $25 million donation of Frederick S. Pardee (Questrom’54, ’54, Hon.’06) and offers five majors: international relations, Asian studies, Middle East and African Studies, European Studies, and Latin American studies.
Campaign for Boston University Is Announced
The community holds a dazzling, celebratory gala to mark the formal announcement of the Campaign for Boston University—BU’s first major comprehensive fundraising effort. With an ambitious goal of raising as much as $1 billion for financial aid, faculty support, research, and facility improvements, the campaign will place the University on a list of just 53 universities that have attempted 10-figure fundraising initiatives. More important, it will help elevate the University’s academic standing, extend its global impact, and make the BU experience more accessible for students across the broadest possible socioeconomic spectrum.
Kilachand Honors College Students Get Their Own Home
The Kilachand Honors College receives another $10 million donation from Rajen Kilachand (Questrom’74), who donated $25 million last year and renamed the University Honors College for his parents, Arvind and Chandan Nandlal Kilachand. The newest gift will renovate Shelton Hall, now known as Kilachand Hall, as a dorm for Kilachand Honors students.
Redstone Gives $18M to School of Law
The Viacom executive chairman’s gift will kick-start the construction of an addition to LAW’s main tower at the center of the Charles River Campus. The addition will bear the media giant’s name. “I feel a very close relationship with Boston University,” says Redstone (Hon.’94).

