MU medical school announces $6 million donation
COLUMBIA — The MU School of Medicine on Thursday announced a major donation from Margaret Proctor Mulligan that will endow more faculty positions than any other gift in the university’s history.
The donation of $6 million was left in the estate of Margaret Proctor Mulligan, a Columbia resident who has been donating to MU since 1998. Mulligan was noted as an active woman until her death in 2007 at 97 years old.
There is enough money to endow more than 10 faculty research positions.
MU Provost Brian Foster expressed gratitude for her contribution.
“She left a landmark legacy, and we’re proud to receive this gift,” he said. “This will make an impact on MU’s ability to save lives.”
Mulligan was a breast cancer survivor and lost her father to a heart attack, so she required that her donation be used strictly for research in the fields of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death among Americans.
According to a news release from the medical school, Mulligan was born in Ashland in 1910 to Micajah and Martha Proctor and moved to Columbia at the age of 10. In Columbia, she was an advertising manager at the Columbia Daily Tribune, managed retail stores and, eventually, joined her father’s real estate business. She remained active in real estate after her father’s death.
Although the estate gift was set prior to her death, Rich Gleba, spokesman for the School of Medicine, said that she was never looking for recognition.
“She didn’t want to recognize the amount of her estate gift during her life,” he said. “She was a humble lady and was never looking for praise.”
So far, six professors have been named as recipients of her endowment.
“The selection was based on their area of expertise in breast cancer and cardiovascular research,” Gleba said. “It is given to the elite faculty at the university.”
One such faculty member is Dongsheng Duan, whose research focuses on the molecular mechanisms involved in heart disease.
“We’re really honored and pleased with the support in moving on in our research,” Duan said, adding that the gift could help raise MU’s research profile.
“Hopefully this will lead to further funding on a national level,” Duan said.
The gift comes at a time of limited federal funding for such research,” said M. Sharon Stack, whose research on tumor development will be supported by the Mulligan endowment.
“The endowment in general shows great vision from Mrs. Mulligan and her family, especially in a time where federal funding for research is difficult to have access to, especially when trying to plan experiments that are high risk and high gain,” Stack said.
In addition to the recent donation, Mulligan helped fund the Margaret Proctor Mulligan Breast Health and Research Program at the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. That program was unveiled in 2005.