$1 million gift creates UF College of Pharmacy's first graduate endowment

November 30, 2005

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida College of Pharmacy has received a welcome dose of support to create its first-ever graduate endowment.

It was announced today that the A.J. Spiegel Foundation has pledged $1 million to establish an endowment fund benefiting the UF College of Pharmacy. The gift will endow the Dr. Allen J. Spiegel Graduate Endowment in Pharmaceutical Research, which will support graduate students in the Department of Pharmaceutics’ doctoral degree program. Allen J. Spiegel is a trustee of the foundation.

Spiegel, a UF alumnus and member of the College of Pharmacy’s National Advisory Board since 2000, said he decided this endowment was the best way to help fund the college’s graduate programs after discussions with College of Pharmacy Dean William H. Riffee and Executive Associate Dean Bill Millard.

“We need a good graduate research program,” Spiegel said, “and in order to have one, we need more support. Hopefully this will provide the support necessary to aid those pursuing a Ph.D. in pharmacy.”

Spiegel previously donated $100,000 to the college to create the A.J. Spiegel Graduate Fellowship. He earned his doctorate in pharmacy from UF in 1957 and retired as senior director of international patents operations from Pfizer Inc., where he worked for 43 years.

According to Millard, the college needs this type of private funding for translational research, through which scientists study disease at a molecular or cellular level and at the clinical level, or at a patient’s “bedside.” Also benefiting from the gift is research in pharmacogenetics, the study of how genetics can dictate drug response.

“Dr. Spiegel’s endowment will now allow the College of Pharmacy to expand its graduate training program in both translational and pharmacogenetics research by providing additional graduate student lines and support in each of these research areas,” Millard said. “We are indebted to Dr. Spiegel’s generosity and support of our college.”

The gift is eligible for matching funds from the State of Florida Major Gift Trust Fund and will count toward the Faculty Challenge Initiative. The initiative, which was announced last year by UF President Bernie Machen, aims to raise $150 million to meet the demands of educating Florida’s growing population and make UF one of the nation’s premier research universities.