Cedars-Sinai Receives $20 Million Gift - Michael Towner

Cedars-Sinai announced Dec. 10 it has received a $20 million gift from the co-founder of digital navigation company Garmin to create an autoimmune disease institute for the research and treatment of rheumatologic diseases.
The gift comes from the family foundation of Min Kao, a Taiwanese American electrical engineer-turned-businessman and philanthropist.
The funds will also establish a program within the institute bearing the Kao name for research, training and education for people with scleroderma, a disease that causes the hardening and tightening of the skin and other connective tissues.
Both the institute and program will be housed at Cedars-Sinai’s Beverly Grove hospital and headquarters.
Kao remains executive chairman of Garmin Ltd., a Schaffhausen, Switzerland-based company that makes devices that use global positioning system technology. Forbes currently estimates Kao and his family's net worth to be $4.1 billion.

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