W.M. Keck Foundation Builds on USC Legacy by Naming Health Care Center
The foundation boosts its longstanding support for medicine with the Willametta Keck Day Healthcare Center.
If you’ve visited a doctor on the USC Health Sciences Campus lately, you might have noticed a new name at one of the busiest spots in the medical complex: the Willametta Keck Day Healthcare Center.
A $10 million gift from the W. M. Keck Foundation named the building previously called Healthcare Center 2. The center houses Keck Medicine of USC clinics that cover a wide swath of medical disciplines touching thousands of patients, from primary care to surgical specialties.
Willametta Keck Day, one of the founders of the W. M. Keck Foundation, was the daughter of William Myron Keck and Alice B. Cominski Keck. William Myron Keck found-ed the Superior Oil Co. in 1921 and created the W. M. Keck Foundation three decades later. One of the nation’s largest philanthropic organizations, the foundation supports out-standing science, engineering and medical research and undergraduate education.
When launched in 2011, the campaign had the largest fundraising goal ever announced in higher education — $6 billion
The Los Angeles-based foundation and its chairman and CEO, Robert A. Day, are strong supporters of USC. With this latest gift, the W. M. Keck Foundation adds to the $150 million it provided in 2011 to launch the Keck Medicine Initiative, which advances USC’s innovative medical research and education. In all, the foundation and members of the extended Keck family have donated nearly $300 million to USC, placing them among the most generous benefactors to the university.
The Keck Medicine Initiative is part of the Campaign for USC, an unprecedented fundraising effort to advance USC’s academic priorities and expand its positive impact on the community and world. When launched in 2011, the campaign had the largest fundraising goal ever announced in higher education — $6 billion. After exceeding its goal nearly 18 months ahead of schedule, the campaign continues to draw unparalleled support for the university’s mission and has been extended through 2021.