BU gets record $115 million gift

Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering (CILSE) at BU.

Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering (CILSE) at BU.

This is from The New England Council (newenglandcouncil.com):

 "Boston University (BU) has received a $115 million donation from alumnus Rajen Kilachand to further life science and engineering research. It's the biggest gift in the university's history so far.

"Kilachand is a member of BU’s Board of Trustees and graduated from the university in 1974 with a master’s degree from itsbusiness school. He has a history of gifts to the university and with his most recent gift came the recent opening of the Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering. The center fosters collaboration between disciplines and highlights research on issues such as climate change, Parkinson’s disease, and increasing the effectiveness of cancer treatments.  At the building’s opening, BU announced the creation of a $100 million endowment made possible by Kilachand’s gift that will be available to students and faculty who wish to begin research in the life sciences or engineering. Access to the endowment’s funds will give BU an advantage in securing highly competitive federal research grants.

“The reputation of a great research university comes from the output of our faculty and students in research and scholarship,” says BU President Robert A. Brown. “Great universities are about the people, and the people are about the infrastructure you can supply and the environment you can give them to succeed. The Kilachand Center, in this area of life sciences and engineering, gives us the resources to attract those people and give them the resources to make an impact on the world.”