Fred Eshelman, Chapel Hill graduate and founder of Pharmaceutical Product Development, returns $100m to his alma mater.
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s pharmacy school is set to receive a major boost in operations thanks to a $100m donation from alumnus Fred Eshelman.
After graduating from Chapel Hill in 1972, Eshelman went on to found Pharmaceutical Product Development, a global contract research organisation, and was also founding chairman of Furiex Pharmaceuticals, a life sciences firm developing treatments for irritable bowel syndrome.
The donation, which is the largest in the university’s history and the largest ever made to a pharmacy school in the US, will be used to accelerate research and innovation, and will also lead to the creation of the Eshelman Institute for Innovation at the pharmacy school.
It is not Eshelman’s first donation to the university. In total, the alumnus has now donated $138m to Chapel Hill, including $20m for scholarships and faculty development, $9m for cancer research, and several other smaller donations.
“I am inspired by the work being done by students, faculty and staff in the School of Pharmacy. In the past 10 years, the school has generated more than 130 patents and created 15 spin-off companies,” Eshelman said. “Their success demonstrates the power and the future of drug discovery in academia, and it’s a future that I am eager and proud to support.”
Carol Folt, Chapel Hill chancellor, added: “Collaborative public-private investments like this new institute will drive the future of innovation at Carolina, and we cannot thank Dr. Eshelman enough for his continued support of the school’s leadership and of the leaders of tomorrow we are producing. Thanks to Dr. Eshelman’s vision and generosity, we can pursue three critical components of the University’s overarching mission: to continue to attract the very best faculty and students from around the world who have a passion to innovate; to fuel economic development arising from their discoveries in an exciting learning environment; and to educate the next generation of leaders to be innovative and competitive.”
