O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center Magazine Spring 2019 | Page 6

T
he O’Neal family knows the devastating effects
cancer can have on patients battling the disease
and their loved ones.
“Our family, as well as the families of our friends,
colleagues and employees, have experienced the
heartbreaking consequences that can accompany a
cancer diagnosis,” Craft O’Neal says. “Together our
family was motivated by the opportunity to play a role
in extending the lives of those with cancer in the region,
while honoring our family members who have been
afflicted by the disease.”
That’s why O’Neal Industries, Inc., the family’s global
business based in Birmingham, and its shareholders
have given the largest single gift in the University
of Alabama at Birmingham’s history — a $30 million
donation to the Comprehensive Cancer Center — which
will allow the center to change the lives of more patients
and families through transformational cancer research,
patient care, education and prevention.
Craft O’Neal, CEO of O’Neal Industries Inc., says the company’s shareholders see the naming gift as meaningful way to give back for a cause that
affects many people’s lives.
“We see this gift as an opportunity to give back in
a meaningful way to a cause that is important to
everyone,” says Craft O’Neal, chairman and CEO of
O’Neal Industries. “We hope the gift will be used in ways
that will yield the greatest results, accelerating progress
in research, treatment and prevention of cancer and,
ultimately, eliminate cancer as a major public health
problem.”
The center will be known as the O’Neal Comprehensive
Cancer Center at UAB.
“This truly transformational gift will have a far-reaching
impact on cancer research and patient care in our
community, state and region,” says Michael J. Birrer,
M.D., Ph.D., director of the O’Neal Comprehensive
Cancer Center. “This endowment will help us
further establish the Cancer Center as the preferred
destination for cancer care in the Southeast; drive
cancer research initiatives; and create a stronger clinical
trials infrastructure and increase clinical trial access to
underserved populations.
“We will also aggressively recruit top physicians and
researchers from across the globe and continue to train
the next generation of physicians and scientists, creating
a robust operation that will propel the Cancer Center to
new levels of success,” Birrer says.
Michael J. Birrer, M.D., Ph.D., director of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, says the naming gift will propel the Cancer Center to new
levels of success.
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O ’ N E A L CO M PR EH EN S I V E C A N C ER C EN T ER AT UA B
A FAMILY TRADITION
Kirkman O’Neal, who in 1921 founded the company
that would become O’Neal Industries, believed it was
the company’s responsibility to have a role in improving
the quality of life of its community. This is a principle
“THIS TRULY
TRANSFORMATIONAL
GIFT WILL HAVE
A FAR-REACHING
IMPACT ON CANCER
RESEARCH AND
PATIENT CARE IN OUR
COMMUNITY, STATE
AND REGION.”
— Michael J. Birrer, M.D., Ph.D., director of the
O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB
that Kirkman’s children, grandchildren and great-
grandchildren continue to embody in their communities.
The company and the O’Neal family have a deep history
of philanthropy with UAB. Craft O’Neal is a longtime
member of the cancer center’s Advisory Board, and
over the years, O’Neal Industries and family members
have supported schools and departments across
UAB, including the Cancer Center, the Collat School of
Business, the Department of Neurology, the School of
Nursing, the Comprehensive Diabetes Center and UAB
Athletics.
“My grandfather’s and father’s generations of O’Neal
employees laid the foundation for the success we enjoy
today,” O’Neal says. “This success enables us to give
back in all the communities in which we are located,
and do even bigger things here at our headquarters
in Birmingham. I hope each of our employees, loyal
customers and supportive suppliers will take pride in
this gift, because without their contributions to our
success, we would not be able to give back in such a
meaningful way.”
The shareholders first heard about the possibility of
the naming gift during their annual meeting last spring.
They were impressed with Birrer’s vision for moving
the Cancer Center forward, and after several meetings
UAB.EDU/CANCER
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