Two UF colleges are a million dollars richer thanks to a 1951 UF alumnus.

William G. Lassiter Jr. and his wife, Aneice, of West Palm Beach, donated $1 million to UF’s M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Building Construction and $1 million to UF’s College of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics, according to a press release from the UF Foundation.

William Lassiter, alumnus of the UF building construction program and director of a real estate development company in West Palm Beach, said he wanted to give back to other students in the program, according to the release.

The gift will be used to maintain buildings, support a professorship in the school and bring construction professionals to the classes.

According to the release, Lassiter said his wife wanted to do something for kids.

From the donation to the Department of Pediatrics, $600,000 will endow the William G. Lassiter Jr. and Aneice R. Lassiter Professorship with an emphasis on congenital heart disease, which is developed before birth.

Dr. Mark Bleiweis, director of the congenital heart center at Shands at UF and associate professor of surgery and pediatrics at UF, said he thinks he might receive the award, though it hasn’t been officially announced.

The remaining $400,000 will endow a diabetes research fund.

Bleiweis said one of the reasons he came to UF was to participate in innovative research in heart disease and gene therapy, which he said has far exceeded his expectations.

According to the release, the State of Florida Trust Fund for Major Gifts could match the total gift, which will be formally recognized by UF President Bernie Machen.

According to the foundation, gifts of $100,000 or more are eligible to be matched by state funds.

The size of the gift determines how much the state will give UF.

Gifts of $1 million or more are matched at 75 percent, according to the foundation.

information from : www.alligator.org

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