U of M Leukemia Research Fund Receives $315,000 from Danny Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament

What: Golf Tournament raises $315,000 for leukemia research
Contacts: Martha Douglas, University of Minnesota Foundation, (612) 626-9712
Amy Phenix, News Service, (612) 625-8510

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – (December 2, 2003) The Leukemia Research Fund at the University of Minnesota Foundation received $315,000 from this year’s Danny Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament. Georgie Fenton, president and director of the Danny Thompson Memorial, and Jack Grundhofer, chairman emeritus of U.S. Bancorp and chairman of the Danny Thompson Memorial Board of Directors, presented the donation to the university at a ceremony on November 19 in Minneapolis.

Since 1976, the Danny Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament has contributed more than $3.5 million to the Leukemia Research Fund. The fund supports interdisciplinary research in leukemia and related diseases at the University of Minnesota’s Cancer Center and elsewhere at the University of Minnesota. The Leukemia Research Fund distributes research funds to University of Minnesota faculty with backgrounds in oncology, molecular biology, biochemistry, immunology, pharmacology and other fields. The goal of the fund is to accelerate progress toward a cure of leukemia and related diseases.

“The Leukemia Research Fund staff, researchers and board of directors are an outstanding group of people dedicated to finding a cure for leukemia,” said Grundhofer. “This money will be put to good use by a team that’s at the forefront of cancer research.”

“On behalf of the Leukemia Research Fund, I would like to thank Minnesota business leaders for their support of the Danny Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament,” said Leukemia Research Fund chairman Russell Huffer, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Apogee Enterprises. “Their dedication to this event and the leukemia research cause allows the University of Minnesota to attract exceptional people and greater resources to support research on leukemia and related diseases.”

Danny Thompson, shortstop for the Minnesota Twins in the early 1970s, died in 1976 of leukemia. His memory lives on through the Danny Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament, which has raised more than $6.7 million for leukemia research since it began in 1976. The annual tournament was started by former Minnesota Twin Harmon Killebrew and former Idaho Congressman Ralph Harding in memory of their friend, Danny Thompson. The 27th annual Danny Thompson Memorial Gold Tournament was held in Sun Valley, Idaho, in August.

The Leukemia Research Fund is an endowment fund managed and invested by the University of Minnesota Foundation. Founded in 1962, the University of Minnesota Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization that builds greatness at the University of Minnesota by raising and managing gifts from alumni and friends.

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