News & Events: Latest News
Source: Elizabeth Fernandez, UCSF News Office
October 26, 2009
$6.5 Million Gift to UCSF from Irwin and Joan Jacobs for Head and Neck Cancer Research
Philanthropists Irwin and Joan Jacobs of La Jolla, CA are giving a $6.5 million gift to UCSF for head and neck cancer research. It is believed to be the largest private, U.S. gift for research supporting this disease. Irwin Jacobs is the founder, retired CEO, and current board member of telecommunications giant Qualcomm. He is also a survivor of a rare form of the cancer.
The gift will establish two distinguished professorships at UCSF for head and neck cancer research, one in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and one in the Department of Radiation Oncology:
- The Irwin Mark Jacobs and Joan Klein Jacobs Distinguished Professorship in Head and Neck Cancer—In honor of David W. Eisele, MD, professor and chair of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, who is the first recipient.
- The Irwin Mark Jacobs and Joan Klein Jacobs Distinguished Professorship in Head and Neck Cancer Radiation Oncology—In honor of Jeanne Quivey, MD, professor of clinical radiation oncology, who is the first recipient.
The gift was announced by UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, at a special celebration ceremony attended by the Jacobses and other special guests.
