PHILADELPHIA, PA (February 21, 2013)—Carol and Louis E. Della Penna Sr. of New Hope, PA, have made a $4 million commitment to Fox Chase Cancer Center establishing the Carol and Louis Della Penna Chair in Urologic Oncology and the Louis Della Penna Family Chair in Head and Neck Oncology.
Louis E. Della Penna Sr., is founder and former chairman of LDP Consulting Group Inc., specializing in providing employee benefits for the public and private sectors. In 2008, Della Penna negotiated the sale of LDP Consulting Group to Brown & Brown Inc., one of the top ten independent insurance brokerage firms in the world. That same year, he joined the Board of Directors of Fox Chase.
“Carol and Lou Della Penna have been champions and generous supporters of Fox Chase for more than a decade,” said J. Robert Beck, MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Academic Officer of Fox Chase Cancer Center. “Lou’s service, counsel, and friendship have been invaluable during a transformative period in the life of this institution—and we’re gratified that with these commitments the Della Penna name and example will have a strong and enduring influence here into the future.”
Endowed chairs are vital in academic medicine. They ensure perpetual funding for promising lines of scientific inquiry and enable an institution to recruit and reward faculty members of proven distinction. For the philanthropist, they offer the opportunity to align his or her aspirations with those of a cancer leader of the highest caliber.
The inaugural holders of the Della Penna chairs will be urologist Richard E. Greenberg, MD, FACS, chief of urologic oncology, now the Carol and Louis Della Penna Chair in Urologic Oncology, and surgeon John A. “Drew” Ridge, MD, PhD, FACS, chief of head and neck surgery, the Louis Della Penna Family Chair in Head and Neck Oncology. With a combined 50 years at Fox Chase, the two physicians have treated thousands of cancer patients, including Mr. Della Penna. Both men are consistently cited as among the region’s best cancer physicians in Philadelphia magazine’s “Top Docs” issue.
“The doctors, nurses and, researchers at Fox Chase have dedicated their lives to helping people prevail over cancer,” said Mr. Della Penna. “Carol and I are indebted to this tremendous community of consummate caregivers and innovators. We feel great excitement about Fox Chase’s future and hope our commitment conveys a measure of our abundant confidence in its people and its mission.”
These commitments come at a pivotal time in Fox Chase’s history. In July 2012, the Center became part of the Temple University Health System, a $1 billion integrated academic health system. This new relationship has enabled Fox Chase to explore a number of new collaborations with faculty and staff at neighboring Jeanes Hospital, Temple University, and Temple University Health System.
“Carol and Lou Della Penna’s generous and timely commitment is a great milestone as we embark on an unprecedented period of expansion and work together to enhance cancer-related patient care, research, and educational programs throughout Temple’s healthcare enterprise,” said Larry R. Kaiser, MD, FACS, Senior Executive Vice President of Health Sciences for Temple University, President and CEO of Temple University Health System, and Dean of Temple University School of Medicine. “Purposeful philanthropists like the Della Pennas show us all what’s possible when great ideas and great people come together to advance the healthcare of all, in this city and well beyond.”
“Anyone who knows Lou Della Penna recognizes his deep compassion and personal commitment to improving cancer care and research. All of us on the Fox Chase Board salute Lou and Carol and the entire Della Penna family for this commitment and celebrate what it makes possible for two esteemed members of our faculty,” said Lewis F. Gould Jr., chair of the Fox Chase Board of Directors.