J UST AFTER THE CHRISTMAS–NEW YEAR’S HOLIDAYS IN 2002, a packet from the vice president of the Wills and Trusts section of PNC Bank was delivered to our offices. Inside was a letter announcing the death of Robert Nicholls Kohman, along with a copy of the trust agreement that was part of his will. No one connected to The Pittsburgh Foundation knew him. His only contacts with us had been through advisors. He had never been to our public events. He wasn’t on the mailing list for our publications. And while he had a professional career in his family’s commercial baking company and as a researcher at the Mellon Institute, no one in business or academia had referred him to the Foundation. But somehow he had enough confidence in the Foundation to direct $14.5 million from his substantial estate to establish the Robert N. Kohman Fund for Medical Assistance and Research. A note from a staff member who followed up after this extraordinary delivery quotes the bank official saying that Mr. Kohman had studied “the community foundation structure and was excited about The Pittsburgh Foundation awarding grants to do good continuously — far into the future.” Mr. Kohman never married and had no direct heirs. He was, according to the few accounts available of his life’s activities, the scion of a prominent Pittsburgh family. He was a graduate of Yale and served as a Naval officer during World War II. He loved the opera, gardening and his golden retriever, Tyler, who was his main companion. While his parents relished the society scene, he avoided the limelight and lived quietly. The few personal details gleaned from his will and trust fill him out as a man deeply committed to the value of scientific research and medical interventions that save lives. Also, it’s clear that he was so devoted to Pittsburgh that he wanted to improve life prospects for future generations. In the 17 years since it was established, the Kohman Fund has grown to $20.9 million and awarded $7.2 million to support groundbreaking research including drug development for immunotherapy, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and HIV/ AIDS. I believe he would be pleased by the evidence of our ongoing efforts to realize his dream of continuous philanthropy. In my 20 years of leading two Pittsburgh philanthropies and a university center, nothing has impressed me more than the power of our Foundation to make gifts in perpetuity. The community foundation model allows for all sorts of philanthropic immortality, and it is truly wonderful to see it used by hundreds of donors who continue to choose, as Mr. Kohman did, to further medical research as a promissory note on the region’s future. Many of our donors fund medical research in response to the loss of a loved one to disease or other tragedy, and the sentiment behind that is endearing: that a life cut ON THE COVER Maggie Elder celebrates with mom, Cyndi McGinnis, at a 2011 5K race fundraiser held in her honor four months after she was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma. Read their story on p. 10. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE F O R U M T H E P I T T S B U R G H F O U N D AT I O N 2 IN THIS ISSUE 5 THE FOURTH PATHWAY Pittsburgh Foundation donors are the early investors at Hillman Cancer Center where immunology research is producing new tools to fight cancer. 10 PAYING IT FORWARD How one family's medical crisis led to an endowment for a trailblazing supportive care program. 14 LASTING LEGACY Carol Massaro grew her family’s philanthropy to help fund a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. 16 RESEARCHING A RARITY Sickle cell anemia patients are front-of-mind in a Pittsburgh Foundation grant to speed development of breakthrough therapies. 8  Advisor Profile: James “Jim” Beck 19  Staff Profile: Mallory Reese