The University of Nebraska Board of Regents today approved naming the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s new cancer center the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
The board also approved naming the hospital tower, the “C.L. Werner Cancer Hospital;” the research tower, the “Suzanne and Walter Scott Cancer Research Tower;” and the conference center, the “Gail and Mike Yanney Conference Center.”
Thanks to major gifts from Pamela Buffett, through her foundation, The Rebecca Susan Buffett Foundation, the C.L. Werner Foundation and the Suzanne and Walter Scott Foundation, UNMC has moved closer to achieving its goal of becoming a National Cancer Institute “Comprehensive Cancer Center,” which provides the highest level of cancer care.
The $370 million project – the largest ever at the University of Nebraska – includes three areas dedicated to cancer: a 98-laboratory research tower, a multidisciplinary outpatient center and a hospital with 108 beds. Construction on the facility, which will be located in Omaha at Dewey Avenue and Durham Research Plaza (45th Street), where Swanson Hall (the original Children’s Memorial Hospital) is located, will begin in August. Completion is expected in the fall of 2016.
The generous gift from Pamela Buffett honors her late husband, Fred “Fritz” Buffett, who died in 1997 after fighting kidney cancer. Her gift will enhance UNMC’s international reputation and put Nebraska at the leading edge of cancer care, research and education. Fred Buffett and investor Warren Buffett were first cousins.
The hospital naming recognizes the generosity of C.L. Werner, honorary chairman of the C.L. Werner Foundation Board and chairman emeritus of Werner Enterprises, Inc., one of the largest truckload motor carriers in the nation. Today, the company maintains its global headquarters in Omaha with offices throughout North America and China. Werner founded the company in 1956 with one truck at the age of 19.
The research tower naming recognizes well-known Omaha philanthropists Suzanne and Walter Scott Jr., who are active in community affairs. Walter Scott serves as chairman of the Board of Policy Advisors for the University of Nebraska Peter Kiewit Institute, Heritage Services and the Omaha Zoological Society, among other leadership roles. Suzanne Scott is a director of the Omaha Zoological Society and a former director of numerous community organizations including Joslyn Art Museum, The Salvation Army and United Way of the Midlands.
The conference center naming recognizes Gail and Mike Yanney’s continuing support of education, research and the promotion of wellness, as well as their steadfast commitment as co-chairs of the UNMC committee of the University of Nebraska Foundation’s comprehensive fund-raising campaign, Campaign for Nebraska: Unlimited Possibilities.
In other action, the board approved changing the name of the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center to the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. The Board of Regents approved the establishment of the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center in 1993 as a matrix cancer research organization to help foster cancer research across academic units and campuses in the University of Nebraska. With the naming of the new cancer center – the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center – the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center name is unnecessary. The Eppley name, however, will remain at UNMC on two renovated cancer buildings near Clarkson Tower: the Eppley Cancer Institute and the Eppley Science Hall.
Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu.