Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital recently announced that Florence Irving and her late husband, Herbert Irving, have given $700 million to advance cancer research and clinical care.
The bequest, which includes $600 million in new funds along with previously announced pledges, brings the Irvings’ total donations to Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian to more than $900 million over the past three decades. (The medical campus shared by the two institutions in Upper Manhattan was renamed the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in 2016.)
The Irvings’ gift is the largest ever to CUIMC; it is expected to have a profound impact on cancer research and clinical care. The new funds will support the recruitment of top cancer scientists and clinical specialists, as well as the expansion of CUIMC’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, where more than four thousand new patients are treated each year.
Florence Irving says that she and Herbert, who died in 2016 after a long and successful career at the helm of the food-distribution company Sysco, always took great pride in their association with CUIMC.
“It meant everything to him to be able to support world-class research and caregiving that makes a difference in people’s lives,” she says.
