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| The Education Center Named for Joan and Sanford I. Weill | |
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According to Robert Michels, M.D., the former Dean of the Medical College, the Weill Education Center will be "pivotal to the College's future, and key to our ability to provide a premier education to promising medical students."
The Weills
Mr. and Mrs. Weill share a broad range of philanthropic interests, including child care and other health issues, the arts, and business education for community benefit. Sandy Weill, the Chairman of the Medical College Board of Overseers, is also co-chair of the campaign for New York-Cornell. A Cornell University graduate, Mr. Weill has a long history of applying his business acumen toward solving community problems. With the New York City Board of Education he founded the Academy of Finance, a program that teaches the principles and applications of finance to high school students in New York and thirteen other cities. Weill was the first recipient of the Cornell University Entrepreneur of the Year Award, honoring business men and women who demonstrate that success in business can translate into improvements for the community at large.
Joan Weill serves the Executive Committee of New York-Cornell's Lying-In Hospital, and supports the annual Spring Benefit Fashion Show for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. A board member of the Paul Smith School of the Adirondacks, Mrs. Weill served on the board of her alma mater, Brooklyn College, and was a member of the New York Botanical Garden's Board of Managers. She is currently President of the Board of Citymeals-on-Wheels of New York City.
The Weills' generosity has also had a profound effect on New York's cultural community. Sanford Weill, as Chairman of the Board at Carnegie Hall, spear-headed fundraising in their recent campaign. The Weills also co-chaired, in 1988, the "Best of Brooklyn" benefit for Performing Arts at Brooklyn College.
The Education Center
The Weills' interest in the new Education Center stems from their concern that the students and faculty of CUMC have facilities which are able to meet the changing demands of medical education. "We were aware of the college's need for better teaching space" Sanford Weill says. "and were pleased to discover the wide-ranging effects that the Center will have on every facet of student life."
Dr. Daniel Alonso, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at CUMC, believes that the Weills, in funding the Education Center, "have dramatically expanded the educational possibilities for our students. It has been a dream of ours for a long, long time," he says, "and it's very exciting to see it finally come to life."
With their generous gift to Cornell University Medical College, the Weills have helped to improve the overall experience of attending a medical school already recognized as one of the finest in the country. Students and faculty will benefit well into the next century from the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Education Center, designed with both today's and tomorrow's medicine in mind.
