Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community:
On behalf of President DeGioia, I have the privilege of announcing a $10 million gift commitment, with $5 million to entrepreneurship at Georgetown and $5 million to our academic health system partner, MedStar Health, to support emergency and pediatric care at the Verstandig Pavilion at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.
This gift commitment from the Leonsis family, Ted (C’77) and Lynn Leonsis and their children Zach (MBA’15), and Elle (C’14), continues their deep engagement in the Georgetown community and their investment in entrepreneurship at Georgetown.
Georgetown Entrepreneurship, established in 2009 in the McDonough School of Business (MSB) and led by Jeff Reid, founding director of Georgetown Entrepreneurship and Professor of the Practice of Entrepreneurship at Georgetown McDonough, provides opportunities and resources for members of the Georgetown community to develop entrepreneurial skills and create new entrepreneurial ventures. This most recent gift commitment will provide funding to support a range of activities and initiatives, such as the Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize and the Leonsis Venture Lab. The Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize, now awarded at an annual “Bark Tank” pitch competition, has distributed nearly $1 million to 60 Georgetown community-led ventures since 2016. The Leonsis Venture Lab was established in 2018 as a workspace available to full-time Georgetown alumni entrepreneurs looking to launch and grow new businesses.
In addition to their gift commitment to Georgetown Entrepreneurship, the Leonsis Family has committed $5 million to support the rooftop helipad on the Verstandig Pavilion, which provides direct access to the emergency department, operating rooms, and the Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), one of the few Level IV NICUs in the region. Their gift also funds a pediatric physical therapy area and pediatric-friendly spaces within the emergency department in the new Pavilion. This gift deepens our academic health system partnership with MedStar Health.
The Leonsis family has been long engaged at Georgetown, providing support over many years to student scholarships, Georgetown basketball, the American Studies program, the Davis Performing Arts Center, and the McDonough School of Business. Ted has served as a member of the Georgetown Board of Directors and the Board of Regents, as chair of the Entrepreneurship Advisory Group, and has been recognized with the John Carroll Award. Zach, a member of the MSB’s Board of Advisors, has also engaged deeply with Ted in supporting Georgetown Entrepreneurship programs.
Please join me in expressing our gratitude to the Leonsis family for their support of these important efforts.
Sincerely,
Robert M. Groves, Provost