Press Release
May 31, 2007
Contact: Dale R. Heffler
(732) 235-3310
d.heffler@umdnj.edu
or
Patricia M. Hansen, RWJMS
(732) 235-6307
hansenmp@umdnj.edu
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Receives $1 Million Gift
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NEW BRUNSWICK — A generous gift of $1 million to the Foundation of UMDNJ from Central New Jersey residents Dr. Gary and Janis Grover will help finance research for scientists in physiology and biophysics at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
“I want to thank Dr. Gary and Janis Grover on behalf of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School,” says Peter S. Amenta, MD, PhD, interim dean at the medical school. “Their generosity combined with their dedication to scientific discovery is extraordinary.”
The Grovers established The Janis and Gary Grover Endowed Professorship in Physiology and Biophysics at RWJMS because they are passionate about supporting scientists.
“We both wanted to make this gift to the medical school now, while we are young enough to remain actively involved in the process,” Dr. Grover explained. “We both feel that by staying involved in something we feel passionately about we can really make a difference in the lives of others.”
The Grovers have both traveled extensively throughout the world for business and pleasure, but their hearts and their commitment lie in Central New Jersey.
“Traveling around the world has given us an opportunity to actually see how fortunate we are in this country, particularly in terms of available health care,” Mrs. Grover says. “We are rooted in New Jersey; we intend to stay here. That’s one of the reasons we have decided to support scientists at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.”
Gary Grover, PhD, is an eighth-generation scientist whose family has lived in Central New Jersey since the Revolutionary War. He has lectured at medical schools nationally and internationally, sharing his expertise in the field of metabolic diseases. Dr. Grover has published 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts and has established 17 patents.
He is currently the director of pharmacology of Eurofins, a biotechnology company. In addition, Dr. Grover has been teaching students for more than 20 years as an adjunct professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School along with having a 20-year research job at Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Although originally from New York, his wife Janis has spent most of her working life in New Jersey and has remained an active member of the Douglass College Alumni Association since her graduation. Her current job as the director of marketing for an international food importer has provided her with a unique opportunity to travel the world looking to find and market gourmet food products. Both are very active in their local chapter of Rotary International.
“We’ve worked hard, we’ve earned our money and now it’s our time to give back,” Dr. Grover said. “We both believe that life is not complete until you give back. There was always somebody helping us; now it’s our time to help somebody else.”
The Grovers challenge others who care about funding research for scientists to also contribute to the endowment or to start his/her own with a minimum gift of $25,000. For more information about contributing to an existing endowment or establishing a new one, contact Denise Gavala, senior director of development, at (732) 235-5109 or gavaladp@umdnj.edu.
The Foundation of UMDNJ, an affiliate of New Jersey Health Foundation, is an independent, not-for-profit corporation that solicits private sector support for educational, research and health care programs at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey.
For a high-resolution photo of the Grovers, please click on this link:
http://www.umdnj.edu/home2web/Grovers.jpg
UMDNJ is the nation’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,700 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and a school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.
