Weill Cornell Medical College has announced a gift of $75 million from Sandra and Edward Meyer and their foundation to expand and enhance the college's cancer research and care programs.

The gift will create the Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell and will be used to unify cancer research activities throughout the school and boost three of its core areas/activities: a centralized biobank, cancer genomics, and computational biology. The gift also will support Weill Cornell's efforts to recruit the top physicians and scientists in cancer research and clinical care and provide seed money for innovative research projects. In recognition of the gift, the college will rename its flagship building on Manhattan's East Side the Sandra and Edward Meyer Research and Education Building.

Meyer, who made his fortune at advertising and marketing firm Grey Global Group, from which he retired as chairman and CEO in 2006, is a 1948 graduate of Cornell University. He told the Wall Street Journal that the decision to focus his family's philanthropy on cancer research and care was the result of personal connections and timing. His mother and parents died of cancer, and his wife has had three close friends die from the disease.

"All of us at Cornell — in Ithaca, in New York, and beyond — are profoundly grateful for Ed and Sandy's thoughtful support and the difference it will make for cancer patients and their families," said Cornell University president David J. Skorton. "As cancer research and treatment move increasingly toward therapies that are tailored to patients' individual genetic profiles and need, the Meyer family's gift allows us to make the necessary investments to advance this groundbreaking area of medicine and realize its promise."