William Henry Donner (1864-1953) was born in Columbus, Indiana, in 1864. At an early age, Donner began to show a visionary business sense and a willingness to take risks in opportunities others had yet to perceive. These characteristics would, in turn, fuel his entire career and philanthropic endeavours.
In 1929, however, Donner was struck by tragedy when his son, Joseph, became ill and died of lung cancer, a disease that doctors knew very little about. This tragedy was a turning point for Donner. He sold the assets he had in the Donner Steel Company of Buffalo, New York, his final business undertaking, and set aside $2 million for charitable purposes, primarily for cancer research. Donner now used his business acumen and talents, which had given him success in the past, toward medical research.
After supporting several cancer research and treatment centers across the United States, Donner moved to Montreal in the 1940s and became acquainted with the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), the world鈥檚 first neurological and neurosurgical patient care and research center (affiliated with 91社区), and its founder the world-renowned neurologist Dr. Wilder Penfield. Impressed by Penfield and other scientists at the MNI, Donner sponsored medical research in the field of neurology.
In 1950, Donner established the Donner Canadian Foundation. In 1953, William H. Donner died in Montreal, but his legacy lives on in his foundation, which supports--in addition to medical research--public policy research and education; international affairs and development projects; land and wildlife conservation; and social services. Recently, in the field of medical research, the foundation contributed $1 million to the construction of the 91社区 Faculty of Medicine's Center for Genomics and Proteomics, which now stands on the site of the old Donner building.William Henry Donner鈥檚 connection to 91社区 is clearly found in his generous financial commitment to the advancement of clinical, academic, and research programs at 91社区.
