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Home Eight Over 80 Awards Eight Over 80 Award Winner Dr. Winston Addis

The University of Iowa Eight Over 80 Award

Dr. Winston Addis 60BA, 64MA, 68PhD

A lifelong educator, Winston Addis has utilized his three University of Iowa degrees to build an expansive career and consistently support his alma mater and other organizations. In retirement, he has continued to be a strong supporter of classical music organizations and a unique school near his home in the Seattle area.

Hailing from Iowa City, Addis began his education career as a high school math teacher in Mount Vernon, Iowa. While working and earning his degrees, he thrived—advancing into the roles of principal and superintendent over two decades. He was also an active board member and president of several educational associations.

In 1983, Addis co-founded the Hamlin Robinson School, a private institution that serves students with dyslexia and other language disabilities. He still serves as a trustee for the Seattle school, which is recognized as one of the top schools of its type in the country and has an enrollment of nearly 450 students.

From 1991 through 2006, Addis worked for City University of Seattle in different administrative roles, retiring as vice president. His accomplishments include organizing the school's first and largest overseas campus in Slovakia. It was the first private and first U.S. university in Slovakia—introducing American-style education with a free-market focus in the MBA program. There is considerable evidence that this program played a role in Slovakia’s successful application to membership in NATO and the European Union. After retiring, he taught statistics there each spring for a decade.

Now, Addis has dedicated himself to supporting regional classical music organizations. Though neither Russian nor a true musician, he co-founded the Russian Chamber Music Foundation of Seattle, which promotes the idea that great music transcends geographic and political boundaries—particularly connecting American audiences to Russian music and artists.

Generous with his involvement and support, including more than 50 years of philanthropic giving for his alma mater, Addis continues to make the world a better place.

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Richard O. Jacobson Foundation Gives $70 Million to Expand Health Care for Iowans

This is the largest donation the University of Iowa has received in its 175-year history. The Richard O. Jacobson Foundation has committed a transformational $70 million gift to the University of Iowa to support a new patient care building for University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. The gift, the largest in the 175-year history of the UI, will help UI Health Care expand service to Iowans by increasing patient capacity while modernizing its care facilities. The new building will help UI Health Care to meet the complex care needs of all Iowans, allowing them to receive high-quality care without leaving the state. The new patient care tower, planned for UI Health Care?s main campus across from Kinnick Stadium, will be named in honor of the late Richard O. Jacobson and his philanthropic legacy, pending approval from the Board of Regents, State of Iowa. The building is part of the university's 10-year revitalization plan that encompasses academic, health care, and research buildings on its central campus. "We are proud to serve Iowa with our state?s only comprehensive academic medical center, providing life-saving and life-changing care to people from across the state and beyond," said UI President Barbara Wilson. "Richard Jacobson?s commitment to the UI was extraordinary, and this latest and very generous gift on his behalf will allow our exceptional health care team to deliver the highest level of care to all Iowans." Featuring single inpatient rooms, state-of-the-art operating rooms, and intensive care unit beds, the new tower will help resolve capacity issues, rising health care demands, and aging facilities. UI Hospitals & Clinics is consistently at, and often above, full capacity, which affects UI Health Care?s ability to fulfill its commitment to care for all Iowans. "Over the next decade, Iowa will face a health care crisis related to an aging population with complex care needs," said UI Vice President for Medical Affairs Brooks Jackson. "This new facility is an important piece of a larger plan to meet these needs, and this visionary gift will positively impact the lives of Iowans throughout the state for generations to come." Richard "Dick" Orrin Jacobson, who grew up in Belmond, Iowa, received the UI Distinguished Alumni Award in 2000 for his extraordinary support for the university. Jacobson?s giving to the UI during his lifetime and through his foundation totals more than $86 million and includes support for the Iowa Reading Research Center, the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center in the Henry B. Tippie College of Business, and Hawkeye athletics; the Richard O. Jacobson Football Operations Building is named in recognition of his football program support. Previous support for UI Health Care includes gifts to UI Stead Family Children?s Hospital, the UI Stead Family Department of Pediatrics, and to support the pandemic response. "Dick Jacobson is an extraordinary example of how Iowans give back to care for Iowans," said UI Center for Advancement President and CEO Lynette Marshall. "His passionate commitment to education and medical research is an inspiration, and we are thankful for his vision, which has continued to be carried out by his foundation." "University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics has long been a beacon of hope for Iowans and others with serious health conditions," stated Governor Kim Reynolds. "This generous gift from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation will not only expand access to world-class care in our state, it will further elevate UI Health Care's national reputation as a health care innovator and attract more medical professionals to fulfilling careers in Iowa." "The generosity of this gift is extraordinary," said Michael J. Richards, president of the Board of Regents, State of Iowa. "UI Health Care must continue to prosper and grow, and this transformational funding gets the planning of the 10-year UI medical campus modernization off to a phenomenal start. I look forward to updates from the university." "A gift of this magnitude is truly remarkable,? said Sherry Bates, president pro tem of the Board of Regents and chair of the UI Hospitals & Clinics Committee. "UI Health Care provides unique, high-quality health care for the entire state of Iowa. As the planning process moves forward, I am excited to see more details, which will make the services UI Health Care offers even better." The Board of Regents, State of Iowa provided the university permission to proceed with its 10-year facilities plan, including this new UI Hospitals & Clinics patient care building, and the UI is requesting permission to name the tower in recognition of Richard O. Jacobson's legacy of giving at the board?s February 23 meeting. The plans and budget for the patient tower will go to the Board of Regents for approval at a future date. About the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation The Richard O. Jacobson Foundation was created in 1976 by Jacobson, a distinguished businessman and philanthropist, who attended the University of Iowa as a member of the class of 1958. For more than 45 years, the foundation has focused its grant activities in the following areas: education, including primary, secondary, and higher education; youth development; and medical research. For information contact: Dana Larson Executive Director, Communication and Marketing UI Center for Advancement 319-467-3661, 917-345-9841 (mobile) dana.larson@foriowa.org Learn more about giving to the University of Iowa at foriowa.org.

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