UT graduate will be honored for $1M gift for endowed chair

10/22/2004

Dr. Julius Jacobson graduated from the University of Toledo 57 years ago, but he still can rattle off the names of his professors.

He said that's because they had a "profound impact" on his life. In return, the man now known as the father of microsurgery is making his own type of impact on his alma mater.

Dr. Jacobson, who will be honored during a ceremony on the campus today, has donated $1 million to UT so the university can create an endowed professorship in biomedical research.

"I'm just very grateful and I feel the education I got at Toledo was just wonderful for me," he said yesterday. "As opposed to some of the big Ivy League schools, you get to know your professors."

The endowed professorship, which marks the fifth one Dr. Jacobson has created to date at national and international universities, will be established in 2005 at UT, officials said.

Dr. Jacobson said he's hopeful the money will assist the upcoming generation in doing what he's convinced they're capable of: Finding cures for diseases, such as cancer.

Born in Toledo, Dr. Jacobson and his family moved to New York when he was 4. When he finished high school, he had no money for college. He worked and eventually hitchhiked to Toledo, where he joined the freshman class at UT.

Dr. Jacobson went on to make great contributions to modern medicine, including the commissioning in 1962 of a double-lensed microscope.

He is now director emeritus of vascular surgery and distinguished service professor of surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.

In 1997, Dr. Jacobson was awarded an honorary degree at UT for his contributions to modern medicine. At that time, he also announced a $500,000 gift to UT upon his death, a gift that he's now moved into the endowed professorship.

Vern Sndyer, vice president for institutional advancement, said UT has six endowed chairs and three endowed professorships in place.