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This morning, UNC's public health school will be renamed for Quintiles CEO Dennis Gillings and his wife, Joan, who have pledged $50 million. That's the largest single gift to the university from an individual or family, and as I reported today, the gift makes some folks at the school a bit uneasy.

But while some students and faculty have criticized the gift and what they think may give the Gillingses unreasonable access or control over academics and planning at the school, university officials have vigorously defended the gift, noting that it has been properly vetted and will receive plenty of oversight.

I asked Matt Kupec, UNC-CH's vice chancellor for university advancement about it just yesterday. His response: 

"We're very up front with our donors that they do not exert control. But we are very excited about this gift. It will make peoples' lives better."

One public health graduate student in particular, Dustin Petersen, has been quite vocal in his opposition to the gift. I quoted him in today's story, linked above, and you can read other thoughts of his on his blog.  

Some faculty have expressed concerns as well.  But earlier this year, former Chancellor James Moeser rebutted much of the criticism quite directly in a letter to the editor of the Triangle Business Journal, which had reported on the gift and some of the questions about it. He Moeser wrote in part:

"A small group of students and faculty are stringing together conspiracy theories where there are none regarding our plans to use resources made possible by this gift to advance teaching, research and public service.

I regret that their comments and unfounded speculation are creating confusion when there should be clarity about how this university celebrates such an extraordinary act of generosity.

This personal gift from Dennis and Joan fully meets all of the University's criteria for accepting a gift, whether from individuals, foundations or businesses. To your readers who are unfamiliar with private philanthropy, last week's report left a wrong impression about this gift's significance to the university and the care with which we are planning to use these new resources wisely to directly benefit the public.

We are proud and honored that Dennis and Joan selected the School of Public Health, which they both know so well, to benefit from their gift."

 
The Gillings money will pay for quite a lot of new research at the school. Details here. 

 

One other note: The school's new name will be the "UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. The word "global" has been added to the name quite intentionally, Barbara Rimer, the school's dean told me. It is an acknowledgment, she said, of the work the school already does and the reach she believes is necessary.

 

"When you look at most health problems, they don't respect geographic borders," she told me. "We have all been preparing for pandemic flu [for example]. More than likely, that will come from abroad."