Dr. Dennis Gillings and his wife, Joan Gillings have pledged $50 million to the UNC School of Public Health. Here are some facts about the gift:

• This gift is the largest single gift the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has ever received.
  
  
• It puts the University’s Carolina First Campaign over its $2 billion goal.
  

• In recognition of this donation, the School will be named the “Gillings School of Global Public Health.”
  
  
• It increases the resources the UNC School of Public Health has to put toward finding answers to perplexing public health questions, and quickly translate those into practices that will improve the public’s health.
  
  
• It will fund the creating of competitively selected Innovation Laboratories. Faculty may be from the School, but also from other schools at UNC and from the private sector. Innovation Laboratories will focus concentrated efforts on solving big public health problems whose solutions can make a difference in the public’s health.
  
  
• It will support Gillings Fellows, faculty from UNC-Chapel Hill who will take working sabbaticals in organizations around the world from which we can learn. We also will invite Gillings Fellows from think tanks, businesses, NGOs and academic institutions around the world to serve as part of our innovation teams for a year or two.
  
  
• It will also support the Gillings Prize for Public Health Impact, the only award focused on public health impact. We will invite nominations from people around the world.