Virginia Commonwealth University has announced a $16 million gift from C. Kenneth Wright to establish and endow distinguished research chairs and a scholars program.

Awarded through the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Foundation, the gift includes $12 million to create half a dozen C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Distinguished Chairs in Clinical and Translational Research and $4 million to establish the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Physician-Scientist Scholars program. The endowed chairs will enable the university to recruit distinguished clinical and translational researchers from around the country, with faculty whose research is focused in the Pauley Heart Center and the Massey Cancer Center initially being awarded the chairs for a period of up to five years. The scholars program will provide tuition and stipends to M.D.-Ph.D. candidates in the VCU School of Medicine who are preparing for careers in clinical and translational research. In recognition of the gift, VCU will rename its Center for Clinical and Translational Research the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research.

Over a decade and a half, the Wrights gave gifts for the creation of scholarships and professorships at VCU, donated property that became the home of the VCU Brandcenter, helped fund an expansion of the School of Engineering, and supported cancer research and pulmonary care at the university. Dianne Wright died in 2013.

"The center is improving the lives of patients at VCU Health," said Kenneth Wright, who in 2011 was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters by the university. "I am excited about helping to put the very best faculty and students in the laboratories and clinics so new discoveries can be made and new treatments can be developed. I am very grateful for the excellent care Dianne received at VCU Health, and I know that she would be very pleased about this gift and the impact it will have across VCU."