Miller School of Medicine Celebrates UM President Julio Frenk's Inauguration

CORAL GABLES, Fla., Jan. 28, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine will hold a special event — "A New Century of Medical Education and Innovation" — today as part of the weeklong celebration of Julio Frenk's inauguration as the University's sixth president.

Hosted by Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., Dean of the Miller School, it will feature remarks by President Frenk, a groundbreaking ceremony for a new medical education building and the renaming of another building housing cutting-edge research, both made possible by the extraordinary generosity of two local families — the Miller family and the Soffer family — who have strong, close ties to UM and the Miller School.

"These remarkable acts of generosity are enabling the Miller School to position itself to meet and exceed 21^st century challenges," said Dean Goldschmidt.  "And there is no better person to lead us through these extraordinary times in health care than President Julio Frenk.  He provides the leadership that heralds a future of transformation for our University and medical school."

A highlight of the event is the groundbreaking ceremony for the Miller School of Medicine Center for Medical Education, made possible by a $50 million gift from the family of Stuart A. Miller, Chair of the University of Miami Board of Trustees. This represents a continuation of the Miller family's ongoing support for both UM and the Miller School.

In 2004, the family gave a historic $100 million gift to name the School of Medicine in honor of the late Leonard M. Miller, a UM lifetime trustee and former chair of the UM Board of Trustees. Additionally, in 2014 The Lennar Foundation, which was founded by Leonard Miller as the charitable arm of the Lennar Corporation and is led by Chairman Marshall Ames, contributed $50 million to name The Lennar Foundation Medical Center, the newest home of UHealth - the University of Miami Health System being built on the Coral Gables campus.

In another demonstration of support for the medical innovation taking place on the Miller School campus, the Soffer Family Foundation has committed $25 million to the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute — the largest single donation the Institute has ever received. The funding will allow the Institute to continue its groundbreaking stem cell research in several areas, supporting the exploration of therapies in the fields of cardiology, sports medicine and aging-related frailty.

In recognition of this seminal gift, the Clinical Research Building will be renamed the Don Soffer Clinical Research Center.

President Frenk will speak about the future of medicine and the critical role donors play in advancing medical education, research, patient care and community service. UM's first Hispanic president, he served as the Minister of Health of Mexico from 2000 to 2006, and was the founding Director-General of the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico.

Before joining the University of Miami, he was the Dean of the Faculty of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health since 2009, as well as the T&G Angelopoulos Professor of Public Health and International Development.

The special event begins at 11:30 this morning on the medical campus's Schoninger Research Quadrangle. It is being sponsored by Michael S. Gordon, M.D., and his wife Lynda. Dr. Gordon, a visionary academic and entrepreneur who joined the University of Miami faculty in 1966, revolutionized medical education around the world with the creation of Harvey, the world's first cardiopulmonary patient simulator, and UMedic, an innovative computer and web-based program to train physicians, emergency responders and military personnel to save lives.

SOURCE University of Miami