Construction on the Richard J. Mazurek, M.D., Medical Education Commons continues.

The new building is scheduled to open in spring 2009.

The Wayne State University School of Medicine Development and Alumni Affairs Department has secured a $3 million grant from The Kresge Foundation to be used in the construction of the Richard J. Mazurek, M.D., Medical Education Commons.

The Kresge Foundation committed the grant with the condition that the School of Medicine first raise $30 million for the building, destined to become the new face of the school. The School of Medicine’s development team met that goal with a recent gift from an anonymous donor, triggering the Kresge challenge grant.

“With the awarding of this grant, we are saluting your efforts to improve conditions and advance opportunities in your community," said Rip Rapson, president of The Kresge Foundation. "We must partner with nonprofit organizations such as the School of Medicine if we are to pursue our grant-making vision. You enable our work as much as we try to enable yours.”

The Kresge Foundation is a private foundation that supports communities by building the capacity of nonprofit organizations in health, the environment, arts and culture, education, human services and community development.

“This gift from The Kresge Foundation means so much to the School of Medicine, to our students, and to the patients and community they serve,” said Robert M. Mentzer Jr., M.D., dean and senior advisor to the President on Medical Affairs. “This type of commitment from the foundation is recognition of the vital role the School of Medicine has in southeast Michigan. The foresight of the foundation, as well as the commitments made by our alumni and friends and family of alumni, will help us push medical education not only into a new building, but into a new millennium.”

Dean Mentzer also praised the School of Medicine’s Development and Alumni Affairs Department, which worked diligently to raise the $30 million in contributions required to secure the Kresge Foundation’s challenge grant.

Doug Czajkowski, chief development officer for the School of Medicine, noted that many financial gifts backing the construction of the new building are from former students who maintain strong ties with the school and who want to remain part of the family continuing its legacy.

“Those who graduated from the School of Medicine are strongly committed to carrying forward the mission of the school,” Mr. Czajkowski said. “And yet while many of our contributors are students who have gone on to become successful doctors, quite a few who contributed to the construction of the new Mazurek Education Commons are not in the medical field, but know the school’s reputation for providing health care for the uninsured and underinsured, and in providing world class physicians to care for the people of Michigan and the world.”

Mr. Czajkowski also thanked the School of Medicine’s Board of Visitors and Executive Fundraising Committee. “Their dedication to the school really helped this to come to fruition,” he said.

David Ripple, vice president of Development and Alumni Affairs for Wayne State University, noted that through the development process, the university discovered generous donors who believe in investing in medical education.

"The Richard J. Mazurek, M.D., Medical Education Commons will be an invaluable resource for the medical research and practical training that prepare our medical students to provide services for those in need across the state,” Mr. Ripple said. “By offering the $3 million grant on a challenge basis, The Kresge Foundation has helped the School of Medicine raise the standard of fundraising at Wayne State. The challenge also assisted the school in discovering some incredibly generous donors, most notably Nick Labedz, who are making major investments in the future of medical education at Wayne State. I am grateful to every donor who is helping make this project a reality and am tremendously proud of the School of Medicine development staff for its perseverance in raising funds for this important educational facility."

Expected to open in spring 2009, the Richard J. Mazurek, M.D., Education Commons will optimize the on-campus educational experience for students and clinicians at every career stage, and provide new spaces and services that will enhance campus life and convenience for students, faculty, health professionals and guests. New classrooms and laboratories and new educational opportunities such as the latest patient simulation technology will play a key role in enriching medical education for our students.

A $10 million gift in honor of a School of Medicine alumnus set the tone for the launch of construction, which began in September 2007. The gift, which was made by Mr. Labedz in memory of his partner, Richard J. Mazurek, M.D., is the largest in Wayne State University history. Dr. Mazurek, who died of cardiac arrest in 2002, graduated from the School of Medicine in 1961. He interned at the University of California-Los Angeles and Wadsworth Veterans Hospital. He entered private practice in Playa Del Ray, Calif., in 1964, and was considered an excellent diagnostician. He served as a clinical instructor on UCLA College of Medicine's faculty and was among the first physicians to become board certified in family medicine, although his primary certification was in surgery as an ear, nose and throat specialist.

Dr. Mazurek was active in real estate, most notably apartment buildings and commercial properties. In 1988, he retired from medicine after 25 years in private practice.