Historic $100 million donation is largest ever
to the University of Miami

A New Name, A New Era

n December 6, 2004, the University of Miami School of Medicine launched a bold new era with the announcement of a historic $100 million gift from the family of the late Leonard M. Miller, a longtime South Florida businessman and philanthropist. In recognition of the largest gift ever to the University of Miami, the School of Medicine was named the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine.

On a beautiful morning a crowd of several thousand people, including Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, gathered on the Schoninger Research Quadrangle as the yellow and green banner announcing the Miller School of Medicine was unfurled. Joining Sue Miller, Leonard’s widow, in making the announcement were her children, Stuart, Jeffrey, and Leslie, and 10 of her 11 grandchildren.

“Only once in the history of a great institution does a day like this come along,” said John G. Clarkson, M.D. ’68, senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Miller School of Medicine. “We now launch a new chapter that will propel us to ever greater heights of medical discovery, medical education, and unparalleled medical care for the people of South Florida and beyond.”

The gift will be used to establish four Miller professorships initially, to recruit the next generation of biomedical scientists, to enhance the medical school’s academic mission, and to meet other critical needs of the school, as determined by the dean and by University President Donna E. Shalala.

“The gift will allow us to pursue greatness in the community that Leonard loved and that his gifted wife and children continue to serve,” Shalala told the crowd, which included medical faculty, staff, and students.

Leonard Miller arrived in Miami in 1954 and invested $10,000 from his own pocket into a small homebuilding company. By the time of his death in 2002, that small company had evolved into Lennar Corporation, with nearly $9 billion in annual revenues.

During his lifetime Miller and his wife Sue were longtime supporters of the University of Miami and in particular the School of Medicine. Leonard Miller served on the Board of Trustees for 20 years, including four as chairman. He received care at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center during his two-year battle with liver cancer.

“Leonard’s illness gave us a better understanding of what this arm of the University trulyrepresents,” Sue Miller said. “We as a family learned firsthand the true commitment of this medical world, the doctors working around the clock, calling from airports, excitedly returning from seminars with news about something related to Leonard’s illness.”

In giving the gift to the University, Miller said, “We honor each of you and your commitment to humanity. We know the measures of one’s success are not wealth or shrines erected, but the inner strength that comes through hard work and integrity for our fellow man, and knowing that as individuals we can make a difference in this world.”

President Shalala said a gift such as the Millers’ “stimulates other gifts and helps put us on the map of world-class research universities.”