Solving Unsolved Problems through Bioscience Research

“My passion is to advance bioscience research that can help solve some of the significant, unsolved problems in human health,” says Jim Linfield, who with his wife, Patience, gave $250,000 to support CU-Boulder’s Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building, slated for 2011 completion. “That’s why I give to CU.”

In addition to being a significant donor, Linfield is generous with his time. He not only serves on the CU Foundation Board of Trustees but also on the advisory boards of CU’s Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, the Technology Transfer Office, and the Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology.

Though not a CU graduate, the university has touched the lives of Jim and his family. His two daughters have attended CU, and his family, Boulder residents, benefit from CU’s programs and concerts. “The primary motivation is it’s very important that we have strong state-sponsored research universities,” he says. “CU is an extraordinary example of a state-sponsored research institution.”

He has known CU-Boulder professors and biotechnology leaders Tom Cech and Leslie Leinwand for a long time, and has enormous respect for the world-class program they are building at CU.

“It’s a great way to invest in the next generation of business and scientific leaders, and each generation owes an obligation to the next to invest in that
generation,” says Linfield.
Giving back is a Linfield family tradition: as long as Jim can remember, his mother has been involved in civic and charitable endeavors. Today, at age 80, she still volunteers at Boulder Community Hospital.

“She’s always looking to help other people out,” says Linfield. “I think that is definitely something to emulate.”

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