Chancellor Gary S. May issued the following letter today (Jan. 28):

To the UC Davis Community:

Please join me in celebrating a milestone $120 million donation from philanthropists Joan and Sanford I. Weill through the Weill Family Foundation, to the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. This gift launches UC Davis firmly into the future of higher education and makes us a model campus for comparative medicine. Their gift is the world’s largest-ever contribution to a veterinary school and one of the largest in UC Davis history.

Comparative medicine is the study of health and disease across species. The gift will boost our translational research initiatives for diseases such as cancer, neurological disorders and cardiovascular conditions that affect both animals and humans.

The Weills’ gift will support the construction of a small animal teaching hospital, part of our $750 million Veterinary Medical Campus expansion to build the premier veterinary campus in the world. It will also expand the school’s capacity to train the next generation of veterinarians.

Our veterinary school is now named the Joan and Sanford I. Weill School of Veterinary Medicine — or simply, the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine.

The Weills are longtime supporters of the University of California and UC Davis. They believe in the power of our mission of research, teaching and service. They value how higher education can transform lives.

During an era when we’re experiencing unprecedented challenges to higher education, the generosity of donors like Joan and Sandy Weill strengthens our ability to make vital discoveries that improve the health of the people, animals, and the environment that make us a global community.

The entire field of veterinary medicine will benefit from the transformative work this gift from the Weills establishes. The power of that gift starts here, at UC Davis.

Sincerely,

Gary S. May
Chancellor