Brown Provost Richard M. Locke said these staffed positions provide long-term support that helps the University recruit academics who are at the top of their field and retain outstanding faculty and researchers. Researchers named to endowed chairs created during the campaign include American Sociological Association President-elect Prudence Carter (sociology), accomplished brain scientist Kate O’Connor-Giles (neuroscience) and National Medal winner of Science S. James Gates Jr. (physics), among many others.
“Brown Set has provided the resources to advance faculty excellence in areas where Brown has previously been a leader and innovator, ”said Locke. “It has also allowed us to gain deeper and broader expertise in brain science, computer science, international and public affairs, and other critical areas where interdisciplinary research can generate new knowledge that benefits the society.”
In support of the University’s ambitious Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, the campaign is also playing a key role in diversifying Brown’s faculty: “We have almost reached our goal of doubling the number of professors from historically under-represented groups in higher education, with an increase from 58 HUG professors in 2014-15 to over 100 this year, ”noted Locke. “The diversity of skills, experiences and perspectives is essential for solving complex challenges, and Brown Set helps us achieve this.
Solving global problems through education and research
While Brown Set Generated strong support for financial aid and faculty recruitment, it also motivated alumni, relatives and friends to provide an unprecedented level of donor funding for education and research. About $ 1.2 billion has been raised for these priorities, a total that far exceeds the original target of $ 900 million.
“There are areas of academia like brain science, public health and medicine where it has become clear, particularly over the last year, that Brown can have a major impact, whether in preparation for pandemic, by creating more equity in the delivery of health care. or develop new knowledge about devastating diseases, ”said Samuel M. Mencoff, Chancellor of the University. “Brown has the opportunity to advance important work in these and other areas of research that may produce new knowledge and the prospect of new treatments and programs that the community, nation and world need now.”
Most notably, a donation of $ 100 million from Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney – one of the largest in University history – named the Carney Institute for Brain Science in 2018. The donation drives a program ambitious to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery. and help find cures for some of the lingering and devastating illnesses, including paralysis, spinal disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.
In addition, a donation of $ 25 million to the Carney Institute supports computational brain science and endowed a program to promote innovative research, while $ 30 million has established a new research center for the disease of the brain. ‘Alzheimer’s. A project at the new center is focused on identifying markers for the preclinical stages of Alzheimer’s disease, which could lead to a non-invasive and more affordable screening test for the disease in its early stages.
“I would like to see Brown help usher in the modern era of Alzheimer’s disease treatment, where patients can receive an early and accurate diagnosis and begin treatments that preserve memory and quality of life,” said the Dr. Stephen Salloway, a leading specialist in Alzheimer’s disease. researcher and associate director of the center.
Among other examples where BrownTogether donations are impacting research and education:
- With $ 50 million from Samuel and Ann Mencoff, academics at Warren Alpert Medical School are working to advance biomedical research and discoveries in treatments and cures for disease.
- With $ 25 million from the Bravo Family Foundation, a new research center enables Brown’s economics department to expand the reach of its data-driven scholarship and amplify its focus on training the next generation of researchers in economics.
- With $ 12.5 million from Alan Hassenfeld’s family, the University launched the Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute with key hospital partners, bringing together researchers, physicians, students and community partners to transform the health of children in Rhode Island and beyond.
- With a $ 25 million donation from Jonathan M. Nelson, Brown established the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship, which provides support to students at every stage of the entrepreneurial process, works with researchers to further research on entrepreneurship and s ‘associates with entrepreneurs on and off campus.
- With support of around $ 40 million, the Political Theory Project transforms political discourse by diving under easy ideological labels and encouraging scholarship and debate that brings together brilliant minds from a wide variety of perspectives. .
- With a donation of $ 27 million from the Warren Alpert Foundation, Brown expanded and improved his MD / Ph.D program. program and established the first Brown Institute for Translational Science chair.
With continued momentum in support of Brown’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, Brown Set donations and grants also catalyze research on race and inequity.
At the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, researchers are meeting for urgent explorations of how anti-black racism permeates American public health, criminal justice, and electoral procedures. A new endowment of $ 5 million established by class of 1982 alumnus Perri A. Peltz provides long-term financial support for teaching and research activities; and through a $ 4 million grant from the Mellon Foundation, CSREA and its partners at Yale, Stanford and the University of Chicago are collaborating on programs that address major issues rooted in racial inequality, inequality economic to incarceration.
