The estate of Donald and Ruth Goodman was put into a philanthropic trust after their deaths in 2007 and 2008. The trustees have now donated $20.5 million to Case Western Reserve’s medical and dental schools.
Donald J. Goodman was a Cleveland dentist who amassed a fortune through wise investment and became active in philanthropy later in life. A 1945 graduate of Case Western Reserve’s dental school, Goodman credited the advanced cancer treatment provided to him by the university’s doctors for prolonging his life by six years. Consequently, the lion’s share of the gift is slated to be used for research into various types of blood cancer.
The foundation says that $3 million of the donation will go towards creating two endowed professorships, one in cancer therapeutics and another in cardiovascular research. The remaining $17.5 million will be distributed among the medical and dental schools for the aforementioned blood cancer research.
The couple’s granddaughter, Kayleen Goodman-McDowell, said that "[the] gift has allowed them to extend their values through a family legacy beyond any of our expectations." Case Western Reserve’s president, Barbara Snyder, thanked the couple for the donation. "Don and Ruth Goodman cared deeply about the university, and we are truly thankful to them and their family for their commitment to pre-eminent research and education at our schools of medicine and dental medicine," said Snyder.
The gift was announced last weekend at a meeting of Case Western Reserve’s board of trustees, with surviving members of the Goodman family in attendance. The university has also received grant funding from the federal government in recent days, which donated $3.7 million in stimulus money to the Francis Payne Bolton School of Nursing.
