Hallie Ford leaves $8 million gift to support child and family health
An $8 million gift from noted Oregon philanthropist Hallie Ford will establish a research and outreach center at Oregon State University to promote the health of children and families.
Shortly before she died June 4 at the age of 102, the co-founder of the Ford Family Foundation made her final act of philanthropy to build the Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families. As part of OSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences, this facility will house a group of researchers who take a lifespan and preventive approach to child and family health. Ford’s gift, the largest in the college's history, also will create an endowment to recruit a nationally-acclaimed director for the center.
The center, which is unique to Oregon and may be the only one of its kind in the nation, will address such issues as early childhood development, school readiness, childhood obesity, and child, youth, and family resiliency.
“What makes this unique is that our research looks at children’s health holistically, from neuron to neighborhood,” said Tammy Bray, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences. “We take a multidisciplinary approach to understand the interactions of body and mind in the context of families, schools, and communities.”
Read more about Hallie Ford's legacy and her gift to OSU:
