The University of Pennsylvania has announced an $83.9 million gift from alumnus P. Roy (BS ’50) and his wife Diana Vagelos to fund science initiatives across the School of Arts & Sciences.

More than half of the largest gift ever to the school, $50 million, is focused on graduate education in the Department of Chemistry, including the establishment of 20 new Vagelos Fellows. The gift also will create a permanent endowment for the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology, launched in 2016 with support from the couple, who awarded an additional $50 million in 2019 to fund a new science center.

The latest gift will also support an endowed chair in chemistry and student awards honoring leaders of three undergraduate programs that carry the couple’s name: the Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management, the Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research (VIPER), and the Vagelos Scholars Program in the Molecular Life Sciences. Longtime benefactors of Penn Arts & Sciences, the couple have now committed a total of $239 million.

“Diana and I have always been great believers in the power of basic science to find solutions to global problems,” said Roy Vagelos. “Whether through enhancing understanding of the natural sciences in order to one day cure neurodegenerative diseases, or tackling the enormous threat that climate change poses to people around the world through energy science, investing in students and faculty mentors is the best way we can think of to enable learning and advance discoveries. We hope that these funds will also help make this work more accessible and increase diversity among faculty and students pursuing these solutions. With its outstanding faculty and interdisciplinary approach, Penn is uniquely well positioned to inspire the scientists of the future and change the world for the better. We are proud to help keep Penn at the forefront of science education and research.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/aoldman)