Giant Eagle's $1.4 Million Donation Is 100th Gift of $1 Million or More to University of Pittsburgh Campaign

January 21, 2003

PITTSBURGH—The Giant Eagle Foundation has made a donation of $1.4 million that is the 100th gift of $1 million or more to the University of Pittsburgh's Discover a World of Possibilities fundraising campaign.

The gift will support educational and community outreach initiatives in the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, the School of Pharmacy, and the School of Social Work.

By June, Pitt's fundraising campaign had reached its $500 million goal more than a year ahead of schedule. Pitt's Board of Trustees passed a resolution in June authorizing the University to extend the campaign and increase its goal to $1 billion. To date, the Discover a World of Possibilities campaign total is $550 million.

"It is wonderful to see one great Pittsburgh institution, Giant Eagle, supporting another, the University of Pittsburgh," said Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg. "The Giant Eagle Foundation's very generous campaign commitments will have a lasting impact on important Pitt programs and will better position us to enhance the lives of others. This support will help ensure that we remain on the cutting edge of these disciplines well into the future."

The $1.4 million gift will:

• Establish the Giant Eagle Foundation Chair in Cancer Genetics at UPCI;

• Support the expansion of community outreach programs for the Jewish Studies Program in the CAS Department of Religious Studies;

• Support the Executive MBA Scholarship Fund in the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business;

• Fund the School of Pharmacy's Pharmaceutical Care Learning Center, a collaborative learning environment in the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum that focuses on small-group work; and

• Create a Giant Eagle Foundation Scholarship in the School of Social Work.

The largest portion of the gift, $1 million, will endow the Giant Eagle Foundation Chair in Cancer Genetics. The chair will enable UPCI to recruit a world-class researcher and to expand the body of knowledge about genetic susceptibility to cancer.

"This very generous gift will have far-reaching effects," said Arthur S. Levine, M.D., senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine. "As we learn more about the genetic risks for specific types of cancer—risks that are already apparent early in life—we will be well positioned to identify these risks in individuals and to intervene at an early enough time so as to prevent much of the cancer that now occurs later in life."

The grant affirms the Giant Eagle Foundation's commitment to be a partner with the University of Pittsburgh.

"We at Giant Eagle believe it is important to give back to our community and, we see the University of Pittsburgh as a key institution for the economic welfare of this region," said David Shapira, chairman and CEO of Giant Eagle Inc. "We hope that our gift will be an example to others who also will support the University of Pittsburgh's many initiatives."

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