{"id":610412,"date":"2024-06-13T10:45:17","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T14:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=610412"},"modified":"2025-11-19T13:57:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T18:57:38","slug":"gift-golisano-intellectual-developmental-disabilities-institute-announcement-610412","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/gift-golisano-intellectual-developmental-disabilities-institute-announcement-610412\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Golisano makes $50 million commitment to the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½"},"content":{"rendered":"

The gift is the largest single gift in University history and the largest single gift made by Golisano.<\/h2>\n
\"John
(l to r) David Linehan, John Foxe, Sarah Mangelsdorf, Tom Golisano, and Richard Handler during the press conference to announce Golisano\u2019s $50 million commitment to the URochester. (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \/ John Schlia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Ä¢¹½´«Ã½<\/a> announced today that entrepreneur, philanthropist, and civic leader B. Thomas \u201cTom\u201d Golisano has made a historic $50 million commitment, making it possible to build the Golisano Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Institute at the URochester Medical Center. The new world-class transdisciplinary center will provide solutions to the health and quality of life issues that affect people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Those with IDD are a traditionally underserved population, with approximately 19,000 people affected locally, 120,000 regionally, and 200 million worldwide.<\/p>\n

Golisano\u2019s gift will significantly expand the University\u2019s distinctive strengths in IDD patient care, community outreach, and caregiver support programs. These span the University\u2019s schools, institutes, departments, centers, and programs and include such areas as its Complex Care Center<\/a>, Department of Neurology<\/a>, Department of Pediatrics<\/a> and its Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics<\/a>, Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities<\/a> (LEND), University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities<\/a> (UCEDD), Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience<\/a> and its Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center<\/a> (IDDRC), and the Eastman Institute for Oral Health<\/a> (EIOH).<\/p>\n

The gift will also make it possible to bring together these resources within one institute; to become the worldwide gold standard for IDD health, services, and outreach; and to expand and form new regional, national, and global partnerships with leading academic and health care institutions and community agencies.<\/p>\n

Golisano\u2019s gift also names the Golisano Specialty Clinic at Eastman Dental Center, which serves nearly 2,000 people with IDD each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreating a better world for people with IDD has been a passion of mine for over 40 years. I know that this is a shared goal with Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital and the URMC as they have proven through their ongoing commitment and growth in this field of care,\u201d says Golisano. \u201cURMC\u2019s vision for the new Golisano IDD Institute takes that dedication to a new and unprecedented level, putting patients at the center of every focus and providing one-stop integrated care and coordinated customized services. The impact will be an enhanced quality of life and access to care that, before now, has only been a dream for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tom
Tom Golisano\u2019s total philanthropy to the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Medical Center now nears $100 million. Today\u2019s gift marks the largest single gift the entrepreneur, philanthropist, and civic leader\u00a0has ever made. (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \/ Matt Wittmeyer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Between his personal giving and his foundation, Golisano\u2019s total philanthropy to the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Medical Center now nears $100 million. In addition to today\u2019s commitment, in 2002, Golisano donated $14 million to build the Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital<\/a> (GCH), to help recruit outstanding faculty, and to expand programs in cardiac care, general surgery, neurology, and more. In 2011, he contributed another $20 million to GCH to build a new hospital, and in 2020 made a $5 million gift to establish the Golisano Pediatric Behavioral Health and Wellness Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Golisano has given more than $145 million to organizations globally that are dedicated to advancing the health and social inclusion of people with IDD, including Special Olympics and the Golisano Children\u2019s Hospitals in Rochester and Syracuse, New York, and Southwest Florida. Today\u2019s gift marks the largest single gift that Golisano has ever made.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am tremendously grateful to Tom for his visionary commitment to IDD, to this University, and to his hometown of Rochester,\u201d says Sarah C. Mangelsdorf, Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ President and the G. Robert Witmer, Jr. University Professor. \u201cHis transformative generosity will propel our strengths, deepen our commitment to IDD, and truly change lives around the world. There is no question that those with IDD will have a better, brighter future because of Tom Golisano.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs board chair, I speak for all University trustees when I say how grateful we are to Tom Golisano and his foundation for this historic gift,\u201d says Richard B. Handler, CEO of Jefferies Financial Group. \u201cThrough his actions, Tom has become the embodiment of President Mangelsdorf\u2019s vision of boundless possibility, as outlined in the University\u2019s strategic plan. This gift will change the URochester, our Medical Center, and our community forever and it will inspire others to follow in Tom\u2019s large footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"John
John Foxe (left) has been named the founding director of the new Golisano Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Institute at the URochester Medical Center, made possible by a gift from Tom Golisano (right). (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \/ John Schlia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The University has named John Foxe<\/a>, the Kilian J. and Caroline F. Schmitt Chair in Neuroscience and director of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, to direct the new institute. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be happier, more proud, and more inspired to take on this role, providing solutions to the health and quality of life issues that affect people with IDD,\u201d he says. \u201cThe institute will serve as a pivotal hub for excellence and will advance, advocate, serve, and champion IDD care, treatments, and education around the world. Thank you, Tom, for this exceptional gift and for changing people\u2019s lives by creating the world\u2019s number-one IDD institute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resources will immediately serve people with IDD while propelling the institute into prominence, allowing the University to accomplish now what it estimates would take 20 years otherwise. Golisano\u2019s gift places the University among the most recognizable centers in the nation today\u2014one of eight with the three core requirements of an IDDRC, LEND, and UCEDD.<\/p>\n

Adds Foxe, \u201cCombining our strengths in therapeutic innovation, specialized IDD training, and community partnerships with our exceptional strengths in delivering quality, cutting-edge health care across our specialty clinics will position the Golisano IDD Institute to provide new models of IDD care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foxe also notes that over the past nine years, the University has invested nearly $80 million in IDD programs. \u201cAlthough our clinical, therapeutic, and educational programs make Rochester an important regional and national resource, we must do more to address the growing needs of those with IDD,\u201d he says. \u201cTom\u2019s gift will help us close gaps, address challenges, meet demands, and expand educational opportunities, curricula, and community partnerships. We can now purchase the highly sophisticated tools required to allow breakthroughs in diagnosis and treatment, hire and train more professionals, and better meet the growing demand for services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adds David Linehan<\/a>, CEO of the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Medical Center, dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry, and senior vice president for health sciences for the URochester, \u201cTom\u2019s generosity is truly transformational. Because of him, URMC can increase our clinical services and access to care\u2014an enormous need in our region\u2014and become the global leader in IDD medical evaluations and diagnoses, the training of IDD professionals, and advocacy, assistance, and consultation programs for the lasting benefit of those with IDD.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
Special Olympics gold medalist and health messenger Emily Brushafer thanked Tom Golisano for his generosity during the press conference announcing the new Golisano Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Institute at the URochester Medical Center. (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \/ John Schlia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOur team at GCH includes leaders in patient care, training, research, and community partnerships, all working together to improve care, health, and quality of life for individuals with IDD. Tom Golisano\u2019s gift will facilitate additional growth, collaboration, and coordination to build on this commitment in a way that is unprecedented,\u201d says Jill Halterman, chair of the Department of Pediatrics and physician-in-chief of Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital. \u201cOn behalf of the children and families who will benefit from this support, we are so incredibly thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eastman Institute for Oral Health Director Eli Eliav adds, \u201cLast year, EIOH was the largest provider of dental care to people with special needs, serving nearly 2,000 patients with IDD from more than 40 New York counties in our community clinics, specialty care clinics, and Strong Memorial Hospital,\u201d he says. \u201cTom Golisano has supported this work for many years, and we are extremely grateful for the gift he is announcing today, which will enable EIOH to expand clinical services and train more dentists to provide compassionate care that helps people with IDD maintain healthy smiles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTom Golisano is a true innovator and changemaker. He sees opportunities others don\u2019t, understands the importance of talent and leadership, and brings people together to create solutions,\u201d says Thomas Farrell, senior vice president for University Advancement. \u201cWe can all learn from his drive to make our community and the world a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plans are underway for the new facility, which will be located on a to-be-determined site on the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u2019s Medical Center Campus.<\/p>\n