UNMC College of Pharmacy receives $20 million gift from late alum - KPVI News 6

OMAHA — Throughout his 94 years, Joe Williams was a beardown protagonist of the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

A 1950 postgraduate of the College of Pharmacy, the Pawnee City autochthonal who worked successful his grandfather’s pharmacy arsenic a kid made his archetypal donation to the University of Nebraska successful the magnitude of $10 successful 1958.

As Williams worked his mode up to yet becoming president of pharmaceutical giants Parke-Davis and Warner-Lambert, helium continued to financially enactment his alma mater. UNMC announced Williams’ last acquisition past week of $20 cardinal for the College of Pharmacy.

Williams died astatine property 94 successful March 2021. He gave to UNMC retired of gratitude for the acquisition helium received, said his woman of 48 years, Millie. Williams earned his pharmacy grade astatine UNMC aft serving successful the United States Navy during World War II.

“He felt precise fortunate to person had that opportunity. He thought a batch of the assemblage and the relationships helium formed passim the years,” Millie said.

Part of NU’s systemwide $3 cardinal “Only successful Nebraska” fundraising campaign, Williams’ donation came arsenic “a daze to me,” said Keith Olsen, dean of the pharmacy college. Olson noted the wealth did not travel with immoderate restrictions.

“It truly allowed america arsenic a assemblage to bash things that we wanted to bash for a agelong time,” Olsen said. “We’re truly conscionable truthful grateful astatine the assemblage for Joe and Millie Williams to springiness america this gift.”

Chief among the college’s desires is to connection scholarships to conscionable astir each pharmacy assemblage pupil opening adjacent fall. The scholarships volition scope from $2,500 to $10,000. In a quality release, UNMC said the scholarships volition let students to lessen their imaginable indebtedness and assistance the assemblage vie for immoderate of the nation’s apical students. Tuition for pharmacy assemblage students is astir $25,000 per year.

The scholarships are portion of a $7.5 cardinal allocation to found the Joseph D. and Millie E. Williams Pharmacy Endowment Fund.

Olsen said $5 cardinal from Williams’ donation volition beryllium utilized to lucifer wealth from different donors connected assorted initiatives, including different scholarships.

UNMC volition besides allocate $5 cardinal to commencement a deanship endowment money astatine the pharmacy college, which is the archetypal specified endowment money of its benignant astatine UNMC. The fund’s constitution volition springiness Olsen and aboriginal College of Pharmacy deans much than $200,000 annually to put astatine their discretion for the payment of the college.

The assemblage volition besides walk $2.5 cardinal to assistance with expenses for the operation and ongoing attraction of the $35 cardinal Center for Drug Discovery and Lozier Center for Pharmacy Sciences and Education.

For Joe Williams, his $20 cardinal posthumous donation caps a bequest that includes gathering and moving with radical astatine the highest levels, including Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. A subject hallway astatine UNMC bears his and Millie’s name.

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In summation to his enactment of UNMC, Williams was described arsenic “the driving force” successful the constitution of the Liberty Science Center depository successful New Jersey, wherever helium and Millie lived.

Williams besides chaired the United Negro College Fund, which is simply a philanthropic enactment that financially supports Black assemblage students and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

“He was generous with his time. He was generous with his money,” Millie Williams said of her husband.

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