University Times

Hillmans give $10 million for UPCI development

UPMC Health System officials announced a $10 million contribution June 22 from Henry L. Hillman and the Hillman foundations for the development and expansion of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's (UPCI's) programs at UPMC Shadyside Hospital.

Jeffrey Romoff, president of UPMC Health System, said the planned cancer research and clinical care facility will be named the Hillman Cancer Center.

Henry Hillman and his wife Elsie Hilliard Hillman have a long history of support for health care and medical research. The Hillman and Hilliard families have been associated with Shadyside Hospital for more than 100 years.

In 1981, the Hillman family supported the Mary Hillman Jennings Radiation Oncology Center and contributed to the $2.3 million endowment for the William M. Cooper, M.D., Chair in Medicine.

In 1993, the Hillman Co., with a gift of $1.5 million, endowed the Hillman Professor of Oncology Chair at UPMC Health System.

The Hillman gift follows UPCI's renewal of its cancer center grant fund from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The funding, which totals $18.5 million over five years, re-affirms UPCI's status as an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, the only one serving this region.