U-M Rachel Upjohn Building – Ambulatory Psychiatry & Depression Center: Major Gifts

More than a quarter of the funding for the Rachel Upjohn Building came from generous private donors, with the remaining funds coming from the financial reserves of the U-M Health System, the Friends of the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers volunteer group, and a $4 million grant from the National Institute of Health’s National Center for Research Resources. Other donors have given to the Depression Center to find the programs and research that will occur within the building and outreach efforts that will reach the community.

The building is named for Rachel Mary (Upjohn) Meader of Kalamazoo, who with her husband Edwin gave $10 million toward its construction. It’s also named for Mrs. Meader’s grandmother, Rachel Upjohn, who was the first wife of William E. Upjohn, M.D. Dr. Upjohn was a U-M Medical School alumnus in the late 19th century and the inventor of the first pill that dissolved easily in the human body. He co-founded the Upjohn Pharmaceutical company with his brothers.

In addition to the Meaders, notable donors include Phil Jenkins, an Ann Arbor businessman who gave $2 million toward construction and another $2 million toward a Depression Center professorship and research; and Waltraud (Wally) Prechter, who gave $3.5 million to fund the new Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Genetic Repository, a national research effort based at U-M that aims to determine the genetics of bipolar disorder.