Philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad today announced a second $100 million gift to the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
Eli Broad, founder and chairman of the Broad Foundations, said the work of the Broad Institute “has far exceeded our expectations” in the first 18 months since its launch, and those amazing results spurred him and his wife, Edythe, to pledge a second gift of $100 million to the institute.
In 2003, the Broads announced a $100 million donation to establish the Eli & Edythe Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard for genomic research. The institute involves an unprecedented amount of collaboration among the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Harvard affiliated hospitals, and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.
The importance of collaboration was emphasized by the Broad Institute's founding director, Eric Lander. “It’s much easier to talk about institutional collaboration than to do it,” he said, but noted that outsiders are amazed at how well it’s working.
Susan Hockfield, president of MIT, said, “Broad is an important experiment in how to do science in a new way, with a new organizational structure.” But the new model is only possible with “generous visionary support” like that of the Broads.
“We made our first gift because we believed in Eric Lander and MIT,” said Broad. “We’re making our second gift because we believe in all of you remarkable young scientists,” he said, addressing the audience.
Broad scientists led the recently completed international effort to create a catalog of human genetic variation called the Haplotype Map (see HapMap Catalogue of Human Genetic Variation Published, Bio-ITWorld.com).
Lander attributed the success of the Broad Institute in part to its values, which encourage young scientists to be ambitious and take on challenges. He compared this approach to that of other institutions, which sometimes criticize grant proposals for being “too ambitious.”
Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers, noting that the announcement coincided with his birthday, quipped, “Thank you for the largest birthday present I’ve ever received.”
No Strings
At the press conference following the announcement, Lander was asked what new initiatives were earmarked for new gift. He said it was an unrestricted grant, like the first one, and contrasted it to other forms of funding that require well-identified goals.
Lander said an unrestricted grant lets scientists “follow our noses and put [the funds] to the most important uses. The best ideas bubble up with unrestricted grants. It’s an environment unlike any other I have experienced. When you can measure progress in months, not years, and go with new ideas that are not obvious to the rest of the world– that’s magic.”
With the grant announced today, the Broads' gift is the largest ever given to support the collaborative research of two universities. The new gift will be made through Harvard beginning January 1, 2006.