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Gift commemorates brother's service at College of Medicine

Hershey, Pa. -- John Passan, president and chief executive officer of Valley Distributing and Storage Company, based in Wilkes-Barre, recently presented Penn State College of Medicine with a generous gift of $500,000 to honor the memory of his late brother, G. Thomas Passananti, Ph.D.

The gift establishes the G. Thomas Passananti Professorship in Pharmacology at Penn State College of Medicine, which will supplement departmental support for outstanding College of Medicine faculty. The endowed professorship will provide its holder with the resources to continue and further their contributions to teaching, research, and public service.

Passananti, a board-certified toxicologist and a professor at Penn State College of Medicine for almost 25 years, served as an outstanding teacher and researcher in the Department of Pharmacology. His research focused primarily on drug metabolism and interactions. He died in 1998 at the age of 71.

"I express deep gratitude to John Passan and the Passan Foundation for their extraordinary generosity and public spiritedness," said Elliot S. Vesell, founding chair of the Department of Pharmacology. "Hopefully their example will encourage others to contribute likewise to this College of Medicine, whose services are vital to the whole community."

John and Ann P. Passan and their niece, Carol Keup, joined Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., senior vice president for health affairs, dean of the College of Medicine, chief executive officer of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, on May 14, for the unveiling of a plaque marking The Passan Foundation Research Laboratory. A photo of the lab dedication can be found online at http://www.hmc.psu.edu/news/pr/2003/index.htm#May or through the Penn State Hershey Medical Center Web site at http://www.pennstatehershey.com under "In The News."

Last Updated March 19, 2009

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