Butcher $1 million gift to CU to stimulate break-through biotechnology research
Contacts:
Carolyn Whitehead 303.492.5366
Marlene Stjernholm 303.541.1235
BOULDER, Colo. (Sept 17, 2007) – The University of Colorado has received $1 million from
Jane Butcher to provide support for ground-breaking interdisciplinary research in the emerging
field of molecular biotechnology.
The gift represents major support for the Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology
(CIMB) and builds upon earlier gifts from Jane Butcher and her late husband, Charlie, to further
research in an area at the forefront of science and medicine today.
The initiative has the potential of distinguishing the University of Colorado as a leader in
biotechnology and has tremendous implications for patients who need sophisticated treatments.
Scientists, whose focus in the past was primarily within their respective areas of expertise, are
now working at the edge of their fields and making new connections that converge with other
disciplines. The Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology is fostering these new
connections by integrating the work of biological scientists researching at the molecular level,
engineers exploring new uses of technology and clinicians trying to improve human health.
According to Dr. Leslie Leinwand, Director of the Colorado Initiative in Molecular
Biotechnology, addressing a complex medical question requires a multi-disciplined approach.
“Unexpected connections are being made by bringing together colleagues in diverse fields. The
Butcher gift will enable us to create a community of top researchers who will pool their
respective expertise to make new discoveries that have tremendous potential— like tissue
regeneration and biomarkers.”
The Butcher contribution will not only stimulate new ideas and thinking, but also nurture
collaborative research teams and provide seed grants for biotechnology research projects.
This gift is the third major gift the Butchers have made to support CU’s biotechnology initiative.
Combined with earlier gifts, the Butchers have given over $2.6 million to advance new
discoveries that will have a direct impact on patient care.
This gift will be matched with $1 million from the CU-Boulder chancellor’s office. Prior gifts
were also leveraged with university matching funds.
G. P. “Bud” Peterson, Chancellor of the University of Colorado-Boulder, said that past support
form the Butchers’ has resulted in more than $18 million in additional research grants to support
biomedical research. According to Peterson, several Colorado-based, biotech companies that are
making significant contributions to the Colorado economy have been a direct result of the
Butchers’ early gifts.
Two Butcher Symposia, slated for the fall of 2007 and 2009 will again bring together top
scientists and researchers from all three campuses within the University of Colorado system to
explore collaborative research possibilities within the biomedical science arena.
Seed grants will support the work of newly formed, collaborative research teams. Preference
will be given to projects that represent the potential for having a global impact and attracting
national research grants and to teams that have not published together within the past five years.
“Charlie wanted to turn big ideas into reality—ideas that would be valuable twenty to one
hundred years from now,” said Jane Butcher. “Supporting the work of new, collaborative teams
of the best and brightest scientists with the potential for impacting lives far into the future is what he always wanted.”
Jane, and her husband Charlie, have a track record of philanthropic acts. When they sold their
cleaning products company to the S.C. Johnson Company, the Butchers gave $18 million to their
325 employees the day after the acquisition was complete.
When Charlie retired he pursued his interest in science by volunteering to work in the lab of CU
researcher Dr. Larry Gold, who did pioneering DNA and RNA research that expanded
chemistries leading to new drug families. It was Charlie’s personal connection with Dr. Gold,
coupled with Charlie and Jane’s creativity and interest in helping humanity, and that led to their
generous gifts.
With this recent gift, Jane continues to invest in collaborations that lead to new insights. For the
past ten years, she has co-chaired the Conference on World Affairs—an event that brings
together participants from around the globe who represent diverse backgrounds to discuss and
debate a wide range of issues on an impromptu basis. Jane’s involvement dates back thirty years
when she first participated as a student. “It’s a passion of mine,” says Jane of the conference.
“The insights that are possible with cross-disciplinary thinking are astonishing and yield new
ways of looking at old questions.”
The University of Colorado is a three-university system with campuses in Boulder and Colorado
Springs, and a Denver and Health Sciences Center campus located in downtown Denver and at
the former Fitzsimons Army Base in Aurora. CU is a premier teaching and research university,
ranked sixth among public institutions in federal research expenditures by the National Science
Foundation. Academic prestige is marked by CU’s four Nobel laureates, seven MacArthur
“genius” Fellows, 18 alumni astronauts, 19 Rhodes Scholars and CU-Boulder’s ranking of 11th
best public university and 34th best overall university in the world by the Institute for Higher
Education.
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whose mission is to raise, manage and invest private support for the benefit of the University of
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