Dear WashU students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends,
I’m proud to share extraordinary news for our university and for the future of public health.
The Bursky Family Foundation has made a historic and transformational $200 million commitment to support our School of Public Health, which will now be named the Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky School of Public Health.
Made through With You: The WashU Campaign, this is the largest philanthropic commitment in WashU history, and it comes at a defining moment for public health in our country and around the world.
The challenges before us are clear: emerging health threats, rising chronic disease, mental health concerns, persistent inequities in health outcomes, and growing questions about how we build healthier communities in an increasingly interconnected world. At the same time, this moment also presents tremendous opportunities, to rethink how public health is taught, studied and applied, and to create solutions that improve lives on a broad scale.
That is precisely what the Bursky family’s visionary gift will help us do.
Launched just last year, the Bursky School of Public Health was built for this moment. Under the leadership of Dean Sandro Galea, the school is bringing together expertise from across WashU — including from medicine, public health, engineering, business, policy, communication and the social sciences — to tackle some of society’s most pressing challenges. This gift will accelerate faculty recruitment, scholarships, groundbreaking research and partnerships that translate discovery into meaningful impact for communities in St. Louis and around the world.
You can read more about the gift and the Bursky School in this article, which also will be shared in the Record later this morning.
Andy and Jane Bursky, who met here as undergraduates, have long believed in the power of WashU to improve lives and strengthen society. Over many years, they have supported scholarships, scientific discovery and transformative health initiatives across our institution. Their commitment to public health reflects not only extraordinary generosity, but also remarkable foresight and optimism about what universities can accomplish in service to humanity.
As we look to the future, this investment positions WashU to help define what public health can and should be in the years ahead: more responsive, more collaborative and more connected to the communities we serve. It will help us educate future leaders, advance research that shapes policy and practice, and develop solutions that improve health and well-being for generations to come.
I’m deeply grateful to the Bursky family not only for their generosity, but also their partnership, their leadership and their belief in WashU’s mission. Their legacy at WashU is indelible. This gift in particular will have an enduring impact on our university and on the countless lives that will be touched by the work of the Bursky School of Public Health.
Best,
ADM