University President Larry Bacow secured the largest gift in Tufts' history, and all it cost him was a vegetarian sandwich at Dewick.
Real estate developer, Tufts alumnus, former trustee, and philanthropist William Cummings pledged a $50 million financial commitment to the School of Veterinary Medicine after a dining hall lunch over a year ago. The school will be re-named as the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in a ceremony this spring.
The donation will be invested in the Veterinary School over the next fifteen years.
"This particular contribution came about as the result of a very persuasive president at the University who took me to lunch at Dewick-MacPhie dining hall, bought me a vegetarian sandwich and twisted my arm for awhile. I thought he was going to take me to the Ritz," Cummings joked.
In addition to heading Cummings Properties, Cummings is the president of the Cummings Foundation, the charitable organization distributing the financial commitment to the Vet School.
Cummings' ties to Tufts have always been strong.
"Bill has been associated with Tufts in one way or another since he was 18 years old," said Dennis Cleary, a spokesman for the Foundation. "He grew up in Medford and his career has been based north of Boston, close to the Medford-Somerville area. He served as a trustee, and he has a particular respect and confidence in the senior administration at Tufts - especially at the Vet School."
The relationship appears to be symbiotic, as Vet School Dean Philip Kosch was recently named a trustee of the Cummings Foundation.
The gift spent some time in the initial planning stages. "Major gifts like this don't happen overnight," Bacow said. "They're the product of long conversations, and that was the case here as well."
"This particular financial commitment was made informally about a year and a half ago," Cummings concurred. "I and we as a Foundation have had an active interest in Tufts for some time."
Cleary said the Foundation had always been interested in a financial commitment to Tufts, but that Bacow encouraged Cummings to direct the money to the Vet School.
According to Bacow, Cummings chose the Vet School because "the entrepreneurial spirit of the school appealed to him." Bacow did not say whether the gift was related to the school's financial crisis last year, when Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney threatened to cut all state funding of the Vet School. The school did retain some state funding but sustained a $2.3 million cut.
"I think that Larry Bacow suggested that the Vet School would be a good destination for these funds - and I think it was because there were some funding concerns," Cleary said. "I don't think it influenced Bill giving the gift, I think it influenced the direction of the gift. In his mind he already committed to doing that, and Larry said this would be a good place to put the funds."
A unique distinction of the Foundation's gift was the discretion it granted the University in spending the money.
"Bill Cummings was quite explicit when making this financial commitment that he was not going to direct the funds himself. Those funds were up to the direction of Larry Bacow, Dean Kosch, and other people at the University - they're the experts," Cleary said. "We'd like them to have the independence to use those funds as they wish. There were absolutely no strings attached to that gift."
Cummings said he was looking forward to seeing how the school used the donation. "We'll be quite interested in seeing what does develop and what continues to develop over the years at the Vet School," he said.
"Bill had always envisioned this gift for Tufts," Cleary said. "The $50 million certainly will help the University meet any financial goals."
Cummings Properties owns over eight million square feet of office and research structures, including 196 and 200 Boston Ave. near campus.
