Frances Williams Preston
Preston building dedicated
Dr. Hal Moses was the first to greet Preston as she entered the lobby of the building named in her honor, as Susan Holt, director of development at Vanderbilt-Ingram, looks on. (photo by Dana Johnson)
Dr. Harry R. Jacobson, vice chancellor for Health Affairs, smiles at a joke during the dedication. (photo by Dana Johnson)
The building was officially dedicated Wednesday evening. (photo by Dana Johnson)
Chancellor Gordon Gee presented Preston with an official Vanderbilt badge. This would prevent her from having to point to the building if anyone asked who she was, Gee joked. (photo by Dana Johnson)
Many friends of Frances Williams Preston joined Vanderbilt University officials Wednesday as they dedicated Medical Research Building II in her name and honor.
The Frances Williams Preston Building recognizes the music industry leader and the T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS Research for their long-standing commitment to the work of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
Entertainers Vince Gill and Amy Grant emceed the celebration outside the Preston Building and its marquee entrance to Vanderbilt-Ingram facing Pierce Avenue. Dr. Harry R. Jacobson, vice chancellor for Health Affairs, hosted the program, which also included remarks by Chancellor Gordon Gee, Mayor Bill Purcell; Dr. Harold L. Moses, Vanderbilt-Ingram’s director; and Orrin Ingram, president of Vanderbilt-Ingram’s Board of Overseers.
Preston, president and CEO of the performing rights organization BMI, is president of the board of the T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS Research and a member of Vanderbilt-Ingram’s Board.
In conducting the formal dedication, Gee noted Preston’s generosity and tenacity in supporting causes in which she believes, particularly the fight against cancer. “Because of her tireless support of the T.J. Martell Foundation, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and specifically the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, this grand building – full of promise and hope – is named in her honor,” Gee said.
He also presented her with her own Vanderbilt Medical Center photo ID so she could “freely move about the campus” – although if security asked for something with her name on it, Gee joked, she could always point to the building.
Preston noted that she’d been presented in past with a lab coat embroidered with her name, a set of Vanderbilt-Ingram scrubs and now a building and ID card.
“Some night you just might find me in the laboratory and be surprised at the research I come up with,” Preston said.
The Martell Foundation established the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories at Vanderbilt in 1993, the year that the cancer center was formed. Since then, the foundation has provided more than $5 million for research aimed at developing new strategies for treatment and prevention of breast, prostate, colon, ovarian and lung cancers.
Preston said she never imagined that the high point of her career would have to do with cancer research.
“I am proud to have been part of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center’s efforts from the beginning,” Preston said. “I am even more honored to be associated with this effort now, in my hometown, as the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the Preston Laboratories reach for even greater heights.”
The naming of the building for Preston also honors the Martell Foundation for its support, including a recent commitment of $10 million – augmented by a $6 million anonymous donation – to fund additional innovative research.
“This generous gift has not built a building,” Moses said. “It is fueling scientific discoveries that we hope will one day make a difference for those faced with cancer.”
Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell noted the important contribution that Vanderbilt University and Medical Center make to the Nashville community and told Frances that, if in her travels she find people who doubt Vanderbilt’s willingness to help the city, “send them to me.”
“Nashville is well-known as the home of two major industries – music and health care,” Purcell said. “This wonderful facility is a testament to what can be accomplished when the two work together.”
The eight-story building is home to many of Vanderbilt-Ingram’s activities and research.
The 54,000-square-foot expansion, designed by Earl Swensson Associates, consolidates Vanderbilt-Ingram’s administrative activities in one location and clears the way for the creation of additional laboratory space in the Preston Building and expanded exam and treatment areas in the Henry-Joyce Cancer Clinic.
It includes a two-story lobby and information center through which patients and their families, scientists, doctors, nurses and other staff, and friends and supporters will enter Vanderbilt-Ingram. A corridor connects the lobby to the Infusion Center and the Clinic.
On the eighth floor, a conference center outfitted with sophisticated technology will be used for scientific meetings, community education programs, survivor and donor events, and Board meetings.
The Preston Building also houses Vanderbilt-Ingram’s newly established Biostatistics and Epidemiology divisions, whose work is critical to uncovering the causes of cancers and helping identify targets for preventing disease; the data management of its clinical trials program; and its efforts in cancer education and outreach.
After the dedication ceremony, guests enjoyed a reception and tours of the new building, as well as the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories and other laboratories on the sixth floor of the building.
On Thursday, Vanderbilt-Ingram’s Board of Overseers met for the first time in the 8th floor conference center.