Lorry Lokey gives $75 million to Sanford

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Philanthropist Lorry I. Lokey, the founder of Business Wire, is giving $75 million to the Stanford University School of Medicine, the school said.

The gift will be used to build the nation's largest center for stem cell research, the medical school said Monday in a release. The 200,000-square-foot facility, which will be known as the Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building, will house 350 stem cell scientists.

"Stem cells are going to be as significant as the silicon chip that created Silicon Valley," Lokey said in a statement. "Stem cells are going to introduce an entirely new field of medicine for extending lives and improving the quality of life."

Lokey, who graduated from Stanford in 1949 with a degree in journalism, made an initial commitment to the new building in February 2007, the medical school said. He previously contributed $20 million to Stanford for the Lorry I. Lokey Laboratory Building, which houses research labs for the departments of Chemistry and Biological Sciences.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.