NYU Langone Medical Center today announced the receipt of two gifts totaling $260 million to support major expansion of the NYU hospital and medical school midtown campus along the East River.

Long-time benefactor Helen L. Kimmel is donating $150 million toward construction of a new patient pavilion at the Medical Center that will increase the NYU clinical space by as much as 50 percent.  It will be named in honor of her and her late husband Martin S. Kimmel, a real estate developer.

The second gift, $110 million from a long-standing family of NYU benefactors who wishes to remain anonymous, will be used to redesign Tisch Hospital, NYU's renowned flagship hospital, built in 1963.

These gifts are the latest milestone in a multi-year transformation of the Medical Center being led by its new dean, Robert I. Grossman, M.D., and his leadership team.  They have embarked on sweeping changes that are altering every facet of the institution, building on a 167-year-old legacy that includes Nobel Prize winners and the inventors of the polio vaccine.

"These are remarkably generous gifts that will help bring our dreams for NYU Langone closer to reality," said Dr. Grossman. "NYU Langone is known for the humanity of its patient care and for the caliber of its physicians and scientists.  As we build on that legacy and continue implementing our multi-year transformation, these gifts are a powerful endorsement of our efforts - and our talented team of physicians, scientists, nurses, faculty and staff."

These two gifts bring the total philanthropic giving to NYU Langone this year to  a record $506 million, believed to be the highest amount ever raised by an academic medical center in a single year.

Martin Lipton, chairman of the New York University Board of Trustees, attributed much of the upsurge in major gifts to the Medical Center to the outstanding leadership of Dr. Grossman, who was appointed the Saul J. Farber Dean and CEO in July 2007 after serving as chairman of radiology at NYU for the prior six years.

"Dr. Grossman is an excellent and creative leader, as well as an outstanding physician and innovative researcher," said Mr. Lipton.  "In just 15 months at the helm, Dr. Grossman and his talented leadership team have begun implementing a bold new vision for the Medical Center that has inspired excitement and confidence among supporters both inside and outside the institution."

"Dr. Grossman has galvanized the Medical Center's Board, supporters, and long-time donors," said Kenneth G. Langone, chairman of the Medical Center's Board of Trustees.  "He and his team have offered a bold vision for the future of the Medical Center to build on its great success to date.  The record giving this year reflects the trust and confidence that this vision has inspired in many supporters of this institution."

Year of Record Giving, Despite Economic Uncertainty

The gifts announced today come just seven months after the April announcement of a second $100 million gift from Ken Langone and his wife Elaine, for whom the Medical Center was renamed. In addition to these major gifts, the record half a billion dollars raised this year includes $146 million in contributions from approximately 17,000 separate donors, in amounts ranging from one dollar to $9 million.

"In a time of such economic uncertainty, this mix of grassroots giving and major philanthropy is heartening to observe," said Robert Berne, Ph.D., senior vice president for health at New York University. "It will enable us to undertake the most sweeping revitalization of our institution in its 167-year history."

In speaking regarding her major gift, Mrs. Kimmel noted, "Bob Grossman's creativity and passion for medicine are bringing new energy to NYU Langone.  My late husband and I were so excited by his inspiring leadership that I am now proud to help realize his vision and transform our Medical Center into the world-class institution it aspires to be."

The Kimmels:  A Legacy in Science, and Now Patient Care

Mrs. Kimmel has been a Medical Center trustee at NYU since 1984 and is a life trustee of the University.  She earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Barnard College and in 1987 received an honorary Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute of Science, where she serves on the Board of Governors and is a director of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute.  She is also on the board of the Metropolitan Opera and a director of the American Friends of the Israel Museum.

She and her late husband Martin, who was also a Medical Center trustee, built a legacy in scientific research at NYU.  They established two key research centers, one for stem cell biology and the other for biology and medicine, endowed two basic science professorships, and supported a wide range of specific research programs.

The latest contribution from the Kimmels takes them into the clinical arena. NYU expects to break ground on the new Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Pavilion in about four years and to have it fully up and running in seven years.  Adjacent to the existing Tisch Hospital, the Kimmel Pavilion is expected to pioneer full seven-day hospital operations and to integrate research and discovery with the latest advances in patient care at an unprecedented level.

Both the new Kimmel Pavilion and Tisch Hospital, which will undergo a sweeping redesign, will be settings for state-of-the-art medicine, enhanced patient care and comfort, and expanded family services.

Transforming Changes Underway at NYU Langone

In just slightly more than a year, Dr. Grossman and his leadership team have begun work toward a 10-year strategic plan that encompasses but extends beyond the major new construction enabled by philanthropy.  New talent has been recruited into key leadership positions, including renowned physicians and scientists, senior administrators, new heads of the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine and the NYU Cancer Institute, as well as new chairmen to head pediatrics and radiology, coming from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Cleveland Clinic, respectively.

This year NYU Langone launched its new name and brand identity and dramatically expanded its network of physicians as it opened sophisticated new ambulatory care facilities at Trinity Center in downtown Manhattan and in Westchester County, as well as a large multi-specialty center in Queens. New affiliations, ranging from Woodhull Hospital to Clinica Modelo in northern Manhattan, have contributed to making NYU the largest academic affiliate of New York City's Health and Hospitals Corporation.

Most recently, Dr. Grossman and his team have established a series of Centers of Excellence, assembling some 260 distinguished scientists into collaborative hubs to accelerate scientific discoveries and address some of the world's most pressing health challenges, including Alzheimer's disease, addiction, multiple sclerosis, skin cancer, urological diseases and musculoskeletal disease.

Other key accomplishments include new initiatives to improve the patient experience, a reinvigoration of the School of Medicine's academic programs, and the launch of Doctor Radio, NYU's new national radio station in partnership with Sirius Satellite Radio, which broadcasts 40-hours of live programming by more than 25 NYU experts each week.