Philanthropic Support of 51ĀŅĀ× Ranks Among Most Generous in Northeast Ohio
Generous gifts to 51ĀŅĀ× from the Cleveland Foundation and from Donald and Pamela Washkewicz ranked among the Top 20 philanthropic gifts last year in Northeast Ohio, according to the āLargest 2015 NEO Philanthropic Giftsā list compiled by Crainās Cleveland Business.
51ĀŅĀ× received $5.5 million in June 2015 from the Cleveland Foundation to support the NEOMED-51ĀŅĀ× Partnership for Urban Health, a collaboration between Northeast Ohio Medical University and 51ĀŅĀ× that recruits and trains medical students who reflect the socioeconomic background and cultural makeup of their communities to address and eliminate health disparities. This was the third grant ā and largest to date ā for the partnership from the Cleveland Foundation, preceded by a $250,000 grant in 2010 and a $1.5 million grant in 2011.
51ĀŅĀ× received $5 million in May 2015 from alumnus Donald Washkewicz, former chairman of Parker Hannifin, and his wife, Pamela, for enhancing engineering education at the University. This was the second major gift in two years from the Washkewicz family, which along with the Parker Hannifin Foundation donated a combined $10 million to 51ĀŅĀ× in 2014. In recognition of the transformational gift, 51ĀŅĀ×ās College of Engineering was renamed in the familyās honor.
The most recent gifts from the Cleveland Foundation and the Washkewicz family were received as part of , a major fund-raising initiative launched last year. To date, the campaign has raised more than $83.7 million for scholarships and student-success programs at 51ĀŅĀ×.