The University of California, Davis, has announced an unprecedented $120 million gift from philanthropists Joan and Sanford I. Weill. The donation, made through the Weill Family Foundation, marks the largest private gift ever made to veterinary medicine worldwide, and one of the largest in university history.
In honor of their generosity, the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine has been renamed the UC Davis Joan and Sanford I. Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, or the Weill School of Veterinary Medicine.
Already a leading center for comparative medicine research, UC Davis plans to:
- Dedicate $80 million to build a new small animal teaching hospital, part of a larger $750 million expansion of the Veterinary Medical Complex.
- Spend $40 million on fundamental and clinical research, expanding direction beyond normal funding sources.
- Incorporate advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence and precision medicine.
- Expand clinical capacity to care for up to 20,000 additional patients annually.
The historic gift will boost ongoing leadership in translational research that benefits human and animal health. It will also expand UC Davis’ efforts to address the veterinarian shortage by educating and preparing more future veterinarians and specialists in high-demand fields.
Sanford I. Weill, a long-time UC Davis Chancellor’s Board of Advisors member, expressed pride in backing its efforts: “We are proud to support an institution where groundbreaking research and compassionate care are prioritized together, and where discovery benefits both animal and human health.”
Mark Stetter, dean of the Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, called the gift a necessary catalyst for the construction of the new hospital and said it would “allow UC Davis to move faster, think bigger, and rise to meet the most urgent challenges facing our world … and empower us to drive discoveries, expand access to world-class education, and develop new insights at the intersection of veterinary and human health.”
The gift continues the Weills’ support of UC Davis and the UC system, bringing their total giving to $500 million and strengthening education, research, and public health initiatives across the university.