A $50M donation — one little string attached

Multimullion-dollar philanthropic gifts are nothing new in Houston — but yesterday, oilman T. Boone Pickens shook things up a bit with his $50 million donation to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. As a condition of the gift — which, by the way, is the largest in M.D. Anderson's history — the cancer center has to turn the $50 million into $500 million within 25 years to be able to use the money as it wants to. And it's a challenge M.D. Anderson has agreed to take on: "They initially scratched their heads, then came back and said, 'we can do that,'" Pickens, 78, said. "It's a great way to get 10 for one on your money."

M.D. Anderson President Dr. John Mendelsohn said the cancer center will use the money to recruit faculty and continue research. As for how to turn the $50 million into $500 million, officials said the center will have to average annual earning around 10 percent to reach the goal in 25 years. Private donations can be applied to the $450 million needed, but only if donors specify that that's where they want their money to go. And if the center doesn't make the $500 million goal, the interest will go to Oklahoma State University, Pickens' alma mater. (Pickens made an identical donation, with an identical caveat, to the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.) Even with the challenge of raising the extra money, Mendelsohn said the gift is valuable: "It's a wonderful gift whose innovation we look forward to matching," he told the Chronicle. "It's particularly gratifying to us in light of the recent leveling off in federal support for clinical research."

Though Pickens hasn't had cancer, he has been involved with M.D. Anderson for years: He served on the center's Board of Visitors from 1977 to 1986 and has "given generously" to the center — though officials wouldn't say how much "generously" is. M.D. Anderson will name its new 21-story academic building the T. Boone Pickens Academic Tower in recognition of the gift, but Pickens said that's not the reason he donated the money: "The gift makes me feel good," he said. "No question, it'll help a lot of people."