A corporate strategist from Michigan has given Mayo Clinic its largest gift ever — $200 million.
The Rochester-based medical center announced Tuesday that its School of Medicine will be named for the philanthropist, Jay Alix, of Birmingham, Michigan. He also has been named to the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees.
Alix said his interest in Mayo began in the 1980s when he studied its business model as he was creating what would become AlixPartners, his consulting firm. The Alix Foundation has given Mayo millions of dollars in recent years toward improving its clinical care. The latest record gift is aimed at helping prepare the medical school for the future and make medical education more affordable.
“This gift will have a long-lasting impact as we boldly transform medical education and research training so the next generation of care providers can improve patient care, accelerate discovery and advance the practice of medicine,” Mayo’s president and chief executive, Dr. John Noseworthy, said in a statement.
General aerial view of the Mayo Clinic building in Rochester, Minnesota. (AP-Photo)
Alix said he is concerned about the rising costs of medical education driving away potential doctors. He also wants to help Mayo prepare the medical school for the future.
“We’re going to need a lot more doctors and we’ll need those doctors to be the best and the brightest,” Alix said.
The cost of medical school at Mayo is about $50,000 per year. The endowment will increase scholarships to lower the cost of attending the medical school.
Alix also wants Mayo to use his donation to build new medical education programs around emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
“The doctors of tomorrow will then be able to become the medical leaders we need,” he said.
In honor of Alix’s $200 million gift, the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is being re-named the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine.
