October 6, 2008

Philanthropist Donates $42-Million to Stem-Cell Research

Lorry I. Lokey, the founder of Business Wire, a San Francisco company that distributes press releases, has pledged $42-million to the Stanford University School of Medicine for a new center on stem-cell research. That comes on top of a $33-million commitment Mr. Lokey made to support the center last year.

Mr. Lokey, who is 82, graduated from Stanford in 1949 and over the past 10 years has become one of the county’s most prolific philanthropists. He has landed on The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list of the 50 most generous donors every year for the past eight years. He ranked No. 23 on last year’s list.

The research center, which the university plans to name for Mr. Lokey, is scheduled to open in 2010, and Stanford officials estimate it will cost $200-million to build. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a state agency in San Francisco, has contributed $43.6-million to the center, and Stanford plans to use additional private donations and university funds to finance the rest.

Mr. Lokey said in a news release that he had decided to start supporting stem-cell research after the Bush administration restricted federal support for it, in 2001.

“I’m terribly disappointed in the current administration’s outlook,” said Mr. Lokey. “It’s very narrow-minded. This is about lives being saved.”

Not counting this latest pledge, Mr. Lokey has given Stanford a total of about $80-million since he graduated and has given away a total of at least $390-million to charity over his lifetime.

In an interview with The Chronicle of Philanthropy last year, Mr. Lokey said he wished other wealthy Americans would donate more money to charity than they currently do.

“I’m doing it because I earn far out of proportion than what I’m worth to this world. But there are people that are of more worth to this world who donate not one-tenth of what I give away,” said Mr. Lokey. “Giving away a couple million is wonderful, but these rich people need to do better.” —Maria Di Mento

Comments

1. We need a lot more of Mr. Lokey’s outlook in the world today. He’s a wonderful human being and I wish his views would reach all of those who earn out-of-proportion to the rest of humanity.

   — Margaret    Oct 6, 03:45 PM    #

2. What a shock not to see Bill and Melinda Gates on this list!

   — pat    Oct 6, 03:53 PM    #

3. This is a donor who gets it! Kudos to Stanford for properly cultivating this very generous individual! This is a great example of true philanthropy!

   — Keith    Oct 6, 04:37 PM    #

4. June,

   What a wonderful, sweet, and completely naive commentary on the stem cell issue that doesn’t address anything that happens in the real world. Scientists are not out there trying to create embryos for the sole purpose of experimentation. What would you have us do with the hundreds of thousands of unwanted embryos in freezers around this nation leftover from various assisted reproductive techniques over the past decade or so??? I’ve asked many folks with your viewpoint this question, and never gotten a good answer. Why don’t you enlighten us about what would be the BEST use for these pre-existing embryos? (And please don’t try to convince me that they’ll be adopted, because that just happens so rarely it’s not worth talking about).

   — Bob    Oct 6, 10:34 PM    #

5. Lorry I. Lokey’s quote, “I’m doing it because I earn far out of proportion than what I’m worth to this world,” brings tears to my eyes. If everyone felt that same imbalance in their lives, with what they owe the world outweighing what the world owes them, there would be a lot more wealth in the world, and a lot less discontent.

   — Shar    Oct 7, 02:10 AM    #

6. Like Pat, I was surprised not to see Bill & Melinda, or Warren Buffet – They must be ‘counted’ differently, which made me wonder who else doesn’t show up on the list.

   — Lee    Oct 7, 08:05 AM    #

7. Bob justifies embryonic stem cell research by asking what should be done with unwanted embryos sitting in freezers from various assisted reproductive techniques. We should ask ourselves a deeper question: Maybe we shouldn’t be doing all this in the first place. People justify abortion on the grounds that it’s needed for population control. But maybe people should think about the fact that infertility is nature’s way of controlling the population. There’s a little boy at my son’s school whose mother is dying. He was conceived by IVF, so there’s no father. Again, not what nature intended. Our society is starting to heed the “organic and natural” message when it comes to the food we eat, but it’s still out to lunch when it comes to reproduction. We could go on about this all day. There are so many things that humans have messed about this world because we don’t respect nature. Who are the real animals on this planet?

   — David C.    Oct 7, 09:00 AM    #

8. David C., I agree with most of what you are saying. I didn’t mean to justify stem cell research, but it just seems to be a huge waste to dump bleach/autoclave/otherwise destroy embryos that could be used somehow. There is such an ethical dilemma set up here – infertile couples make lots of embryos, the best ones are implanted, the rest go in the freezer. The couple has a child, the others are still sitting in the freezer. The religious right (and other opponents of stem cell research), as far as I can tell, supports the ability for infertile couples to use ART to have children, but does not want to have to discuss the “casualties” of these procedures (the unwanted leftover embryos). So, since they’re already there, what should we do with them?? June? Anyone?

   — Bob    Oct 7, 12:07 PM    #

9. How can an organization apply for grant money through Mr. Lokey’s foundation?

   — Laura Dilella    Oct 10, 01:10 PM    #

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