9The University of Utah announced a commitment of $150 million from the Huntsman Foundation to establish the Huntsman Mental Health Institute. The institute is expected to become a nationally-recognized leader in research, care, education, and community outreach.
As part of the grant agreement, the university will work closely with relatives of Ivory Ellis and Jon M. Huntsman to raise additional funds to support the institute and to increase awareness in the community about mental health. The gift will provide financial support to the University of Utah Health’s Department of Psychiatry and full-service psychiatric hospital known as UNI (University Neuropsychiatric Institute). In addition, the donation will be used to support mental health services and screenings for the university’s 32,000 students, as well as in rural areas across the state. The funding also will support university research aimed at identifying genetic risks and other factors that cause or contribute to mental illness. The university plans to rename UNI in recognition of this gift, identifying it as the Huntsman Mental Health Institute.
University of Utah Health is the Mountain West’s only academic health care system, combining care for individuals, medical research, and teaching to provide medicine in a caring and personal setting. The system provides care for Utahns and residents of five surrounding states (Arizona, Colorada, Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming) in a referral area encompassing more than 10% of the continental United States.
The Huntsman Corporation is a global chemicals company. The Huntsman family has a long tradition of funding programs at the university, including the nationally acclaimed Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI), which was established in 1995 with a $100 million donation. The institute now includes a state-of-the-art cancer specialty hospital as well as additional research facilities.
This was reported by Health University of Utah on November 4, 2020.
Contact information: Kathy Wilets, Director of Media Relations and Content Marketing, University of Utah, 515 East 100 South, 5th Floor, Salt Lake City, UT 84102; 801-581-5717; Email: Kathy.wilets@hsc.utah.edu; Website: https://healthcare.utah.edu
Contact information: Anne Knisely, Media Relations, Huntsman Corporation, 10003 Woodloch Forest Drive, The Woodlands, TX 77380; 281-719-4072; Email: anne_knisely@huntsman.com; Website: https://www.huntsman.com
