December 9, 2013

As he accepted chairmanship of the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy’s $20 million campaign effort, Dinesh Patel, PhD’79, also made a generous $1 million commitment to the College. This commitment will bolster the existing Chhotubhai & Savitaben Patel Fellowships, which were established by Patel and his brothers in 2005 in honor of their parents.

“I am grateful to the University of Michigan for my education and am proud to contribute both resources and leadership to the campaign,” notes Dinesh Patel.

Dr. Patel was the 2009 recipient of the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy’s Alumni Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award and more recently was honored with BioUtah’s 2013 Utah Life Science Award. 

The College’s campaign is part of the larger comprehensive University of Michigan Victors for Michigan Campaign, which is the largest campaign ever undertaken by a university and includes an overall goal of $4 billion. Dr. Patel’s gift will directly support graduate students at the College, a priority of the campaign.

“We’re very pleased that Dinesh will be chairing our efforts and his commitment to the College is clear by evidence of his generous gift,” said Dean Frank Ascione. The University of Michigan’s College of Pharmacy was founded in 1876 and is committed to educational excellence in preparing students for productive careers in pharmacy, pharmaceutical sciences, medicinal chemistry, clinical practice, and research.  

As a prominent entrepreneur and business leader in Utah, Dr. Patel has founded or co-founded multiple Utah life science companies. He was the founder and CEO of TheraTech, now a major Utah division of Actavis. As a co-founding managing director of vSpring Capital, he invested in many Utah-based life science companies, and supported more than 20 other companies as an angel investor.