WRF Press Releases

May 5, 2004

WRF DONATION TO HELP CREATE SIMPSON ENDOWED CHAIR AT UW

SEATTLE –The Washington Research Foundation has committed to donate $5 million to the University of Washington as the first founding donor in a new matching program designed to stimulate increasing giving to the university.

Part of the money will be used to provide seed funding for an endowed chair in bioengineering in honor of WRF founder, former University of Washington regent and long-time Seattle business executive W. Hunter Simpson and his wife Dottie.

“Hunter and Dottie are among the university’s most energetic and vocal supporters and there is no better way for us to honor their contribution to the university and WRF than to have a chair named in their honor,” said Ron Howell, president of WRF. Simpson was the leading force in the creation of the non-profit, independent foundation more than 20 years ago.

The W. Hunter and Dorothy L. Simpson Endowed Chair in Bioengineering will receive funding of $500,000 from WRF and $500,000 from university local fund balances, which includes revenue from royalty funds. “It is our hope that friends of Hunter and the university will join us in this matching effort by donating an additional $1 million to $1.5 million,” Howell said.

The Simpsons received the university’s inaugural William Gates Volunteer Service Award in 2002. Simpson was Northwest district manager for IBM before joining Physio-Control Corp. as president and chief executive officer. Under his leadership the company became a subsidiary of Eli Lilly and grew into a $100 million enterprise. He was a member of the university’s board of regents from l981 to 1992 and was named one of 100 University of Washington Alumni of the Century in 1999.

Simpson served on the board of KCTS Public Television Corp. and the visiting committees for the University of Washington School of Medicine and School of Nursing. He currently serves on the board of the Washington Research Foundation and the university’s board of rowing stewards.

In addition to joining her husband in his philanthropic efforts, Dottie Simpson has long been an active member and past president of the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS), a national women’s organization that provides financial support to outstanding students in natural sciences, medicine and engineering.

WRF’s $5 million commitment is the first donation to a matching pool program that seeks to raise a total of $120 million in new endowments for chairs, professorships, fellowships and scholarships.

WRF is a 25-year-old independent nonprofit foundation that captures and enhances the value of intellectual property arising from Washington state research institutions to support research and scholarship.

Washington Research Foundation
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Seattle, WA 98102