Philanthropist Robert M. Arnold Donates $15 Million to the Hutchinson Center, the Largest Private Gift in Center History

Robert M. "Bob" Arnold knows the personal cost of cancer: He lost his mother, father and brother to the disease. He also knows the financial costs associated with finding a cure. To help speed the development of lifesaving breakthroughs, Arnold added a new chapter to his family's legacy of support for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center with an unprecedented gift of $15 million.

The gift honors the priorities of Arnold's late mother, Seattle philanthropist Grace Heffernan Arnold. Helping research was so important to his mother, and over the years it carried great weight for the entire Arnold family. "I can't think of a better way to give tribute to my mother than by supporting Fred Hutchinson. I believe wholeheartedly in the cutting-edge work the Center is doing to cure cancer and other diseases,"Arnold said.

The Arnold family's generosity dates back years before the Center opened. Arnold's parents, Lawrence Arnold and Grace Heffernan Arnold, were tireless Seattle philanthropists and close friends of Seattle surgeon and Center founder William Hutchinson, M.D. The Arnold family was instrumental in helping Hutchinson launch the Center in 1972.

Bob is a native Seattleite and a longtime benefactor of the Hutchinson Center. He has a long history of assisting the Center with both his time and money. He succeeded his father on the Center's board of trustees, on which he served until 1993. He was appointed as a founding member of the Center's Senior Council that year and continues to serve in that capacity. He has been giving to the Center since 1961.

The Arnold family also includes Bob's daughters, Grace Arnold and Lauren Arnold Gorter, Lauren's husband, David Gorter, and their sons, Christopher and Taylor.

As a brick and mortar testimony to Arnold's generosity and his family's decades of support, the Center's Public Health Science Division facility is named the "Robert M. Arnold Building." Although Arnold said he is appreciative of the honor, such attention isn't what drove his altruism. He really wants the focus to be on the Center and its work. He sees Fred Hutchinson as a jewel in the crown of the community because of its scientific excellence, and felt it was his privilege to present this gift.

The Hutchinson Center is extremely grateful for Bob's large-hearted donation. He has been a faithful friend for many years. Whether the funds are used for recruiting the best scientists or supporting innovative directions in research, Bob's generosity has had a major impact on the work at the Center. His unrestricted $15 million gift to the Center, the largest private donation in Center history, has opened-up new possibilities for groundbreaking research in the hunt for a cancer cure.

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Arnold Familiy Legacy
Biography
Public Health Sciences Building

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