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Clinic gets $100 million
06/20/02
Roger Mezger
Plain Dealer Reporter
Al Lerner, the son of an immigrant candy shop owner who grew up to become a billionaire, handed the Cleveland Clinic one sweet treat yesterday.
In what Clinic officials are calling perhaps the largest individual gift Cleveland has ever seen, the Cleveland Browns owner and his family gave $100 million to the Clinic and its school for medical researchers that it is starting with Case Western Reserve University.
As a result, the name of the school that opens in 2004 got a little longer. It will be called the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.
"We think it's by far the biggest gift ever given in the history of Northeast Ohio," Bruce Loessin, the Clinic's chief fund-raiser, said.
Dr. Floyd Loop, the Clinic's chief executive, called it "one of the largest gifts in the history of American philanthropy."
Clevelander Peter B. Lewis, gave Princeton University a $60 million gift last year. In 1993, billionaire Walter H. Annenberg donated $500 million to public schools.
Loop announced the gift in a lobby of the Clinic's Lerner Research Institute, where about 350 top donors were attending an annual luncheon. Clinic trustees, Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell, Browns CEO Carmen Policy and Lerner's wife, Norma, were among others on hand.
Until yesterday, the $16 million that the Lerner family gave the Clinic in 1997 to help build the research institute was the largest single gift to the Clinic.
That gift eclipsed the $10 million that the Lerners gave to Clinic rival University Hospitals in 1993, at the time the biggest donation a Cleveland hospital had ever received. To honor the gift, UH named a 210-bed addition Lerner Tower.
But yesterday, Lerner's heart and his wallet clearly favored the Clinic, which he called "the crown jewel of Cleveland." He said the cash infusion should turn the Clinic into the nation's "Mecca of health care," helping attract the biomedical jobs that regional planners so desire.
Campbell also gushed over the Clinic's importance to the area, calling it "the marquee institution that establishes us as a biomedical center."
The mayor said the Lerners' gift puts the Clinic-CWRU medical school partnership on solid footing.
"How long have we waited for the right tie between Case and the Cleveland Clinic?" she said. "And here we are, celebrating the right tie."
Steve Minter, executive director of the Cleveland Foundation, said that in his 27 years with the organization he is unaware of a single gift in the community even approaching $100 million.
"This adds another piece to the critical mass of helping us move towards our goal of being a truly nationally prominent medical research and biotechnology center," he said.
"Now we're going to have two very outstanding, nationally prominent academic medical centers in Cleveland."
Lerner, 69, of Shaker Heights, is a former furniture salesman and real estate investor who made his fortune in the credit card industry. He is chairman and CEO of MBNA Corp. of Delaware, the world's largest independent credit card issuer. He also serves as president of the Clinic's board of trustees.
Last year, according to Forbes magazine, he was the 34th richest American with a net worth of $4.9 billion.
The Lerners did not make the 2001 list of America's 60 most generous donors, which the Chronicle of Philanthropy calculates by totaling all the money a donor gives to various causes.
But the $100 million gift alone would have been good for 13th place on that list, and for ninth place on the Chronicle's top 10 single gifts by individuals.
Lerner, who has had health problems recently, said the time seemed right to make the donation. He entered the Clinic last May with a brain tumor and has returned for follow-up treatments. Neither he nor the Clinic elaborated on the problem.
"I've been in and out [of the hospital], but I'm doing pretty good," he said.
During his brief remarks, the plain-spoken Lerner drew laughs from the audience with his quips about the gift.
"I'm not sure what you're supposed to think when you give away a lot of money," he said. "I'm so not sure that I didn't hand them a check. I'm assuming I still may have about a day or two" to do that.
Then he tried to short-circuit the accolades that he knew were coming.
"We are honored. You don't have to say thank you to us," he said. "We're saying thank you to you all for being so supportive of what we're trying to do."
The audience said thank you anyway, rising for a 50-second ovation.
Through it, Lerner stood casually at his table, hands tucked under his blue blazer and halfway into the pockets of his tan pants. For a man who had just spent $100 million, he didn't look overly impressed with himself.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-4446
06/20/02
Roger Mezger
Plain Dealer Reporter
Al Lerner, the son of an immigrant candy shop owner who grew up to become a billionaire, handed the Cleveland Clinic one sweet treat yesterday.
In what Clinic officials are calling perhaps the largest individual gift Cleveland has ever seen, the Cleveland Browns owner and his family gave $100 million to the Clinic and its school for medical researchers that it is starting with Case Western Reserve University.
As a result, the name of the school that opens in 2004 got a little longer. It will be called the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.
"We think it's by far the biggest gift ever given in the history of Northeast Ohio," Bruce Loessin, the Clinic's chief fund-raiser, said.
Dr. Floyd Loop, the Clinic's chief executive, called it "one of the largest gifts in the history of American philanthropy."
Clevelander Peter B. Lewis, gave Princeton University a $60 million gift last year. In 1993, billionaire Walter H. Annenberg donated $500 million to public schools.
Loop announced the gift in a lobby of the Clinic's Lerner Research Institute, where about 350 top donors were attending an annual luncheon. Clinic trustees, Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell, Browns CEO Carmen Policy and Lerner's wife, Norma, were among others on hand.
Until yesterday, the $16 million that the Lerner family gave the Clinic in 1997 to help build the research institute was the largest single gift to the Clinic.
That gift eclipsed the $10 million that the Lerners gave to Clinic rival University Hospitals in 1993, at the time the biggest donation a Cleveland hospital had ever received. To honor the gift, UH named a 210-bed addition Lerner Tower.
But yesterday, Lerner's heart and his wallet clearly favored the Clinic, which he called "the crown jewel of Cleveland." He said the cash infusion should turn the Clinic into the nation's "Mecca of health care," helping attract the biomedical jobs that regional planners so desire.
Campbell also gushed over the Clinic's importance to the area, calling it "the marquee institution that establishes us as a biomedical center."
The mayor said the Lerners' gift puts the Clinic-CWRU medical school partnership on solid footing.
"How long have we waited for the right tie between Case and the Cleveland Clinic?" she said. "And here we are, celebrating the right tie."
Steve Minter, executive director of the Cleveland Foundation, said that in his 27 years with the organization he is unaware of a single gift in the community even approaching $100 million.
"This adds another piece to the critical mass of helping us move towards our goal of being a truly nationally prominent medical research and biotechnology center," he said.
"Now we're going to have two very outstanding, nationally prominent academic medical centers in Cleveland."
Lerner, 69, of Shaker Heights, is a former furniture salesman and real estate investor who made his fortune in the credit card industry. He is chairman and CEO of MBNA Corp. of Delaware, the world's largest independent credit card issuer. He also serves as president of the Clinic's board of trustees.
Last year, according to Forbes magazine, he was the 34th richest American with a net worth of $4.9 billion.
The Lerners did not make the 2001 list of America's 60 most generous donors, which the Chronicle of Philanthropy calculates by totaling all the money a donor gives to various causes.
But the $100 million gift alone would have been good for 13th place on that list, and for ninth place on the Chronicle's top 10 single gifts by individuals.
Lerner, who has had health problems recently, said the time seemed right to make the donation. He entered the Clinic last May with a brain tumor and has returned for follow-up treatments. Neither he nor the Clinic elaborated on the problem.
"I've been in and out [of the hospital], but I'm doing pretty good," he said.
During his brief remarks, the plain-spoken Lerner drew laughs from the audience with his quips about the gift.
"I'm not sure what you're supposed to think when you give away a lot of money," he said. "I'm so not sure that I didn't hand them a check. I'm assuming I still may have about a day or two" to do that.
Then he tried to short-circuit the accolades that he knew were coming.
"We are honored. You don't have to say thank you to us," he said. "We're saying thank you to you all for being so supportive of what we're trying to do."
The audience said thank you anyway, rising for a 50-second ovation.
Through it, Lerner stood casually at his table, hands tucked under his blue blazer and halfway into the pockets of his tan pants. For a man who had just spent $100 million, he didn't look overly impressed with himself.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-4446
