The University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts and Sciences recently received its largest gift in the institution’s history, writes Ryan Mulligan for Philadelphia Business Journal. 

Roy Vagelos, the former CEO of West Point-based Merck, and his wife Diana donated $83.9 million to Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences, shattering the school’s previous record of $50 million, also donated by the Vageloses, in 2019.

In all, the couple has donated about $239 million to the university over the past four-plus decades.

The majority of its latest donation will go toward funding 20 new Vagelos Fellows at the school’s chemistry department, with $50 million going toward the fellowship program. 

The remaining money will establish an endowed chair in chemistry, a permanent endowment for the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology, and a series of three student awards for undergraduates in three life sciences fields at the School.

Roy Vagelos said he hopes the gift will help fund science education that can one day form the basis for solving major world problems.

“We hope that these funds will also help make this work more accessible and increase diversity among faculty and students pursuing these solutions,” he added. 

Roy Vagelos graduated from Penn in 1950, while Diana previously sat on the board at the Penn Museum.

Read about Penn and the Vagelos’ philanthropy at the Philadelphia Business Journal. 

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