The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has announced a $100 million commitment to its Eshelman School of Pharmacy from alumnus Fred Eshelman ('72).

The largest gift from an individual in the university's history and the largest ever to a pharmacy school in the United States will be used to create the Eshelman Institute for Innovation and provide faculty with new resources to engage in timely research, education, and practice, enabling the school to enhance its position as a national and international leader in the field.

Eshelman, founder and former CEO of Pharmaceutical Product Development and founding chairman of Furiex Pharmaceuticals, previously donated $38 million to the school of pharmacy, including $3 million in support of the school’s drug-discovery center; $2.5 million for pharmacy education, pharmacy practice, research, and training; $9 million for cancer research; and $20 million for scholarships, fellowships, faculty development in teaching and research, partnership development with community pharmacists, and residency programs. There are currently five Eshelman Distinguished Professors at the school, which was named in his honor in 2008.

"Dr. Eshelman has always encouraged us to take risks, and the Eshelman Institute for Innovation provides us with the ability to pursue high-risk, high-reward ideas with partners on campus and to push those ideas out into the world as advancements in education, pharmacy practice and health care," said the school's dean, Robert Blouin. "Pharmacy school faculty consistently and successfully join forces with colleagues from the School of Medicine, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Gillings School of Global Public Health, and the College of Arts and Sciences. The Eshelman Institute for Innovation will accelerate these interdisciplinary partnerships and drive critical problem-solving across the university."