NSU Horizons Spring 2016

41 NSU HORIZONS For Mike and Alice Jackson, cancer is personal; so much so that they are joining with Nova Southeastern University researchers in the fight against one of the nation’s deadliest diseases. The Jacksons have announced a $1-million personal pledge to support NSU’s cancer research efforts. Mike Jackson, chairman, CEO, and president of AutoNation, Inc., the country’s largest auto retailer, and his wife, Alice (above)—a cancer survivor, accomplished businesswoman, and philanthropist— have made it their personal mission and that of his com- pany’s philanthropic arm to help find better treatments and cures for breast and other types of cancer. Alice Jackson has supported NSU’s Rumbaugh-Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research (RGI) for years through her involvement with the Royal Dames of Cancer Research, Inc., a not-for-profit organiza- tion with the sole purpose to raise funds for the study and research of cancer at RGI. The Jacksons have been honored numerous times for their philanthropic gifts to Nova Southeastern University and the greater South Florida community. Mike Jackson was inducted in 2010 to NSU’s H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship’s Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. In 2011, he received NSU’s highest honor, then called the Chancellor’s Community Award, bestowed annually on individuals whose leadership and support provide the foundation for continued growth of the university and the community. n JACKSONS PLEDGE $1 MILLION TO HELP FIGHT CANCER Johannes W. Vieweg, M.D., FACS, has been named found- ing dean of NSU’s College of Allopathic Medicine, which is projected to welcome its first class of M.D. candidates in 2018, subject to achieving accreditation. Vieweg joins NSU from the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville, where he served as the Wayne and Marti Huizenga Endowed Research Scholar’s Chair, director of the UF Prostate Disease Center, and chairman of the Florida Prostate Cancer Advisory Council. NSU’s College of Allopathic Medicine will be the eighth college in NSU’s Health Professions Division, including the colleges of osteopathic medicine, dental medicine, nursing, health care sciences, medical sciences, pharmacy, and optometry. Much of Vieweg’s career-long scientific activity has centered on the investigation and clinical testing of genetically engi- neered tumor vaccines, the discovery of universal tumor anti- gens, and the modulation of immunosuppressive T cells and myeloid cells. He was awarded a Jefferson Science Fellowship by the National Academy of Science in 2015 and, currently, serves as a senior science and technology adviser to the U.S. Department of State in the development of foreign policy. n VIEWEG NAMED FOUNDING DEAN OF NSU COLLEGE OF ALLOPATHIC MEDICINE AROUND NSU