Corporations and Foundations

Here are examples of recent gifts that are making a big impact at Brown, the Division of Biology and Medicine, and Rhode Island:

Champlin Foundations

The Champlin Foundations are a leadership donor to the new Medical Education Building. With a gift of $1 million to support the library space in the building, Champlin demonstrated its decades-long commitment to improving the lives of Rhode Islanders. The Foundation also supports undergraduate scholarships, medical scholarships, and the Brown Library and has made it possible for many graduates of Rhode Island public schools to attend Brown University.

The Medical Education Building library will be named for founder, George S. Champlin, who believed strongly in the importance of education, excellent health care, and libraries and whose company had been located nearby in the Jewelry District.

The George S. Champlin Library will ensure that students and faculty have ample access to library resources and serve as a reading room and information technology center.  It will be a highly visible and inviting space and look out upon the Providence River and College Hill.

June Rockwell Levy Foundation

The June Rockwell Levy Foundation renewed their generous support for graduate education in the life sciences in 2010. The foundation’s $75,000 gift supports exceptional graduate students who are future leaders of academic research and scientific discovery. The June Rockwell Levy Foundation’s continued investment in Brown’s world‐class graduate education is making a tremendous difference, creating a corps of research scientists with ties to Rhode Island who can ultimately use their knowledge and abilities to take on challenging problems in all aspects of cellular and molecular processes, disease mechanisms, and public health that will lead to discoveries in the understanding and treatment of disease and health disparities.  

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

For future scientists, having a collaborative environment where they can investigate, question, and learn is invaluable. This spring HHMI announced that it has awarded Brown $1 million to fund a new summer research program as part of $70 million in grants to 50 universities. The HHMI Fellows Program will give rising sophomores and juniors a chance to conduct group research in a laboratory setting – an experience they might not otherwise be afforded until their senior year.  The program will take place over four summers, involving 120 students and providing a team approach to learning over each 10-week research period. One third of the participants will be underrepresented minority students who will receive additional support to pursue science careers through the HHMI grant.

Each summer, Brown’s student research teams will explore one of four topics: Disease Hunters, which will include research into human genetic diseases in fruit flies; Genome Explorers, which will examine how genes evolve; BioBuilders, which will draw from several scientific disciplines to create biological “machines”; and Life History, Aging, and Genes, which will look at the genetic and environmental components of aging.

In addition to launching the new summer research program, the HHMI grant will allow Brown to create three new undergraduate science courses. Computation for Biologists will draw from the disciplines of pure and applied mathematics and computer science, teaching students how to gather, analyze, store, and present data. The grant will also create two classes in Science and Society that will tie biological science to societal issues, such as race and genetics. Those courses will aim to deepen scientific literacy among non-science concentrators and expose those concentrating in science to disciplines in social sciences and the humanities.

J.T. Tai & Co Medical Scholarship Fund

The J. T. Tai & Co. Foundation Medical Scholarship Fund assists highly qualified and deserving young men and women who otherwise might not have the financial means to complete their medical education.  Since its establishment, the J. T. Tai & Co. Foundation Medical Scholarship Fund has been an important source of much‐needed financial assistance for medical students at Brown. The J. T. Tai Scholarship Program is vital to Brown’s ability to attract top‐caliber students, regardless of their financial means, who are the nation’s future physicians and medical leaders.

J.T Tai Scholar Eric Palacek MD’10 puts it best: “Scholarship aid has been an invaluable source of support to me over the course of my medical training. Particularly as the years pass and the time for student loan repayment draws near, I am incredibly grateful for the immense relief that scholarships have provided. All in all, scholarships have supported me through medical school—allowing me to invest in myself with a first‐rate medical education that has prepared me for a bright, fulfilling career. I am deeply grateful for the generosity of those who give to Alpert Medical School.”