The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine has received a record $10.1 million estate commitment from Herman C. and Connie Soong.
The gift “was inspired by our desire to help innocent animals who are abused, injured and/or homeless to reciprocate their faithful and unconditional love,” the couple says in a statement.
The funds will be used to sustain the school’s good samaritan fund—through which LSU cares for injured and homeless animals—and its shelter medicine program. They will also be used to fund scholarships for underrepresented students, establish a professorship, support oncology research, and establish a forensic sciences program that will help veterinarians and law enforcement identify animal abuse—and then leverage those insights in ways that could prevent violent crimes against people, too.
Herman Soong, an assistant professor at the Tulane University School of Medicine who works closely with the LSU vet school, is providing $8.1 million of the estate commitment, while LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business graduate Connie Soong is providing $2 million. It’s the fourth largest endowed gift to the LSU Foundation in LSU’s history, and the eighth largest gift to the LSU Foundation overall.
The couple’s gift will “transform our ability to address urgent needs in shelter medicine and prevent abuse against animals,” says LSU School of Veterinary Medicine Dean Joel Baines. “The outcomes we are achieving are meaningful for Louisiana, but also for our peers around the country because they are scalable wherever these concerns exist. Likewise, as one of just 30 veterinary schools in the country, being able to offer scholarship funds to specifically recruit and support underrepresented students is important for the future of veterinary care nationwide.”
