The W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center
Encyclopedia
The W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center (1971-1995) was a non-profit research and education center on 10 Old Barn Road in Lake Placid, New York
. The Center was established by a gift of 34 acres (137,593.2 m²) of land and $3 million dollars to the Tissue Culture Association from the W. Alton Jones Foundation
through efforts of Nettie Marie Jones, widow of W. Alton Jones
who was former chairman of the Board of Cities Service Company (see Citgo
). The original tax-free gift was accompanied by the institutional charter that use of the facility would be restricted forever to non-profit activities related to research and education on the biology of cells.
, director of the Finney-Howell Cancer Research Laboratory at the Johns Hopkins Hospital
, a founder and first President of The Tissue Culture Association (now the Society for In Vitro Biology). Dr. Gey was introduced to Nettie Marie Jones, widow of W. Alton Jones
, through her daughter Patricia Jones, an employee or acquaintance at Johns Hopkins. A highlight of the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center building was the George and Margaret Gey Library. The objective was to provide a center in the peaceful setting of the Adirondack Mountains
where experts in the fields of genetics, immunology, virology, insect physiology and other invertebrates unified by common interest in the art and science of culturing cells outside the body could come together, pool their ideas and techniques, and convey them to others.
In the period 1971 to 1980, the Cell Center consisted of research groups oriented around the theme of cell and tissue culture, provided specialty 1 to 3 week courses and hosted international meetings on the theme. The first Director was Dr. Donald Merchant followed by Dr. Paul Chapple.
For the period 1971 through 1979 the W. Alton Jones Foundation
contributed annually to the operating expenses and mission of the Cell Center through the influence of Nettie Marie Jones. In 1979, Mrs. Jones was in poor health and nearing age 100. At that time Charlottesville, Virginia
-based daughter of Mrs. Jones, Patricia Jones Edgerton, took charge of the W. Alton Jones Foundation
and together with long time family associate William C. Battle
, ambassador to Australia under the Kennedy administration, established an independent corporation called the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. Edgerton and Battle and associates maintained concurrent control of the W. Alton Jones Foundation
and the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. In the early 1980's, the Tissue Culture Association, subsequently the Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB), under President Keith R. Porter
, was pressured to relinquish deed to the Cell Center property and facility originally donated to them tax-free by the W. Alton Jones Foundation
to the newly established W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. Without sufficient resources to support legal action to retain ownership of the property and enforce the original non-profit charter and mission, the deed was relinquished. Subsequently the SIVB agreed retroactively to relingquish enforcement of the "non-profit use only" stipulation of the original charter along with the earlier transfer of the deed to the property for a donation of $50,000 from the Adirondack Biomedical Institute, Inc. (Director, Dr. James Stevens).
donated $17.5 million dollars to the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. of to support the recruitment and program of Dr. Gordon H. Sato
as Director. Dr. Sato’s mission was to build a financially independent world-class basic research and teaching institute in the Adirondack Mountains
generally oriented around the applications of cell culture technologies to broad problems in human health and disease through translational biotechnology to industry and the clinic. In his own words he envisioned "a self-endowed Rockefeller University-type institution" in the middle of the Adirondack Park, New York's statewide counterpart of New York City
's Central Park
.
In the period 1983-1993 the research staff of the Center increased by 10 fold. Sato purchased several local properties for staff and student housing. He established an international Ph.D. program in Chemical Biology with nearby Clarkson University
, Potsdam (village), New York
and a joint program with the University of Vermont
, Burlington, Vermont
. He established the annual W. Alton Jones International Symposium in Cellular Endocrinology centered on honoring movers and shakers in the field. During his administration the Center acquired program project grants from the National Cancer Institute
and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
. Through Sato’s efforts, the Cell Center acquired worldwide recognition through contributions of its researchers to basic research and biotechnological applications. Its former researchers and students hold leadership positions in academics and biotechnology worldwide. During this period the Lake Placid center became the headquarters of The Manzanar Project , a global action project aimed at attacking the planet's most critical problems as poverty, hunger, environmental pollution, and global warming through low tech biotechnological methods in salt water deserts that can be transferred to the indigenous inhabitants
To ensure financial independence, a permanent endowment for the research center, "to give scientists security and remove any temptation they may have felt to modify their research because of monetary support," Sato founded Upstate Biotechnology, Inc. (UBI) to be solely owned by the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. Startup for UBI was financed by loans from the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. from the $17.5 million gift from the W. Alton Jones Foundation
to ensure that ownership and proceeds of UBI flowed solely into support and long term endowment of the Cell Center without interference by private interests. As profitability of UBI increased, private interests and the controlling overlapping members of the Boards of both the for-profit UBI, the non-profit W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. and the non-profit W. Alton Jones Foundation
and their associates diverted the UBI mission away from the goal of providing permanent support and endowment of the Cell Center in its Lake Placid, New York
location in the Adirondack Mountains
. This precipitated the resignation of Dr. Sato as Director.
to become involved with UBI, later called Upstate USA, Inc., Upstate Group or simply Upstate. In 1996 the not-for-profit W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. was dissolved and the assets, which included Upstate Biotechnology, Inc., were transferred to a newly incorporated non-for-profit entity, the Adirondack Biomedical Research Institute (ABRI), Inc. In 1998 the ABRI ceased operations as a non-profit basic research entity and announced the facility would become an "incubator facility" for biotechnology companies in the Adirondack Mountains
region with Upstate, Inc. and Argonex (a Snyder startup) as lead companies.
In 2000, the ABRI corporation was dissolved and the property and facilities purchased by for-profit Upstate, Inc. of which Argonex was a major shareholder for $1 million.. In 2004 Upstate was sold to Serologicals, Inc. for $204 million . Upstate and Serologicals, Inc. are now a division of Millipore Corporation
. The site was offered for sale on the Lake Placid real estate market by Millipore Corporation
for $5.9 million and was reportedly sold in 2007 to a local partnership of Lake Placid real estate and business investors for about $3 million.
In 2000 the Ivy Foundation chaired by William C. Battle
was established with a reported endowment of $7 million from funds from the closure of the Adirondack Biomedical Research Foundation, Inc. (formerly the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc.) that included Upstate Biotechnology, Inc. . Subsequent to the sale of the Upstate Group in 2005 the Ivy Foundation listing Board of Directors as William C. Battle
, Arthur Garson, Jr., William Black, Sheridan Snyder
, Patricia J. Edgerton, Aaron Shatkin and Dr. Robert W. Battle made a gift of $45 million to the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, the largest single gift in the history of the University .
Just after the establishment of the Ivy Foundation, but prior to the sale of the privately held Upstate Biotechnology, Inc. to Serologicals, Inc., the Charlottesville, Virginia-based 56-year-old W. Alton Jones Foundation
suddenly dissolved in 2001 . The $400 million endowment was split into three separate Foundations, the Blue Moon Fund run by Patricia Jones Edgerton (daughter of W. Alton Jones) and her daughter Diane Edgerton Miller, the Oak Hill Foundation run by son William Edgerton, and the Edgerton Foundation run by son Brad Edgerton .
Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....
. The Center was established by a gift of 34 acres (137,593.2 m²) of land and $3 million dollars to the Tissue Culture Association from the W. Alton Jones Foundation
W. Alton Jones Foundation
The W. Alton Jones Foundation was a charitable foundation, and a sponsor of environmental causes. It was originally involved in sponsoring the arts, particularly theatre....
through efforts of Nettie Marie Jones, widow of W. Alton Jones
W. Alton Jones
W. Alton Jones , who served as president of the oil and gas conglomerate Cities Service Company , was an influential industrialist, philanthropist, and close personal friend of United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower....
who was former chairman of the Board of Cities Service Company (see Citgo
Citgo
CITGO Petroleum Corporation is a United States-incorporated, Venezuela-owned refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de...
). The original tax-free gift was accompanied by the institutional charter that use of the facility would be restricted forever to non-profit activities related to research and education on the biology of cells.
Cell Culture Research and Education Center 1971-1982
The Cell Center was largely the vision of cell culture pioneer Dr. George Otto GeyGeorge Otto Gey
George Otto Gey was the scientist who propagated the HeLa cell line.-Biography:Gey was born in Pennsylvania, and both his parents were born in Germany. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh in 1921 and then taught zoology there. Around 1926 he married Margaret K. ,...
, director of the Finney-Howell Cancer Research Laboratory at the Johns Hopkins Hospital
Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Hospital is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland . It was founded using money from a bequest by philanthropist Johns Hopkins...
, a founder and first President of The Tissue Culture Association (now the Society for In Vitro Biology). Dr. Gey was introduced to Nettie Marie Jones, widow of W. Alton Jones
W. Alton Jones
W. Alton Jones , who served as president of the oil and gas conglomerate Cities Service Company , was an influential industrialist, philanthropist, and close personal friend of United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower....
, through her daughter Patricia Jones, an employee or acquaintance at Johns Hopkins. A highlight of the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center building was the George and Margaret Gey Library. The objective was to provide a center in the peaceful setting of the Adirondack Mountains
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....
where experts in the fields of genetics, immunology, virology, insect physiology and other invertebrates unified by common interest in the art and science of culturing cells outside the body could come together, pool their ideas and techniques, and convey them to others.
For the period 1971 through 1979 the W. Alton Jones Foundation
W. Alton Jones Foundation
The W. Alton Jones Foundation was a charitable foundation, and a sponsor of environmental causes. It was originally involved in sponsoring the arts, particularly theatre....
contributed annually to the operating expenses and mission of the Cell Center through the influence of Nettie Marie Jones. In 1979, Mrs. Jones was in poor health and nearing age 100. At that time Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
-based daughter of Mrs. Jones, Patricia Jones Edgerton, took charge of the W. Alton Jones Foundation
W. Alton Jones Foundation
The W. Alton Jones Foundation was a charitable foundation, and a sponsor of environmental causes. It was originally involved in sponsoring the arts, particularly theatre....
and together with long time family associate William C. Battle
William C. Battle
William Cullen Battle was a lawyer, businessman, United States Ambassador to Australia, and president of the United States Golf Association....
, ambassador to Australia under the Kennedy administration, established an independent corporation called the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. Edgerton and Battle and associates maintained concurrent control of the W. Alton Jones Foundation
W. Alton Jones Foundation
The W. Alton Jones Foundation was a charitable foundation, and a sponsor of environmental causes. It was originally involved in sponsoring the arts, particularly theatre....
and the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. In the early 1980's, the Tissue Culture Association, subsequently the Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB), under President Keith R. Porter
Keith R. Porter
Keith Roberts Porter was a Canadian cell biologist. He did pioneering biology research using electron microscopy of cells , such as work on the 9 + 2 microtubule structure in the axoneme of cilia. Porter also contributed to the development of other experimental methods for cell culture and nuclear...
, was pressured to relinquish deed to the Cell Center property and facility originally donated to them tax-free by the W. Alton Jones Foundation
W. Alton Jones Foundation
The W. Alton Jones Foundation was a charitable foundation, and a sponsor of environmental causes. It was originally involved in sponsoring the arts, particularly theatre....
to the newly established W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. Without sufficient resources to support legal action to retain ownership of the property and enforce the original non-profit charter and mission, the deed was relinquished. Subsequently the SIVB agreed retroactively to relingquish enforcement of the "non-profit use only" stipulation of the original charter along with the earlier transfer of the deed to the property for a donation of $50,000 from the Adirondack Biomedical Institute, Inc. (Director, Dr. James Stevens).
The Sato Program 1983-1993
In 1982 the W. Alton Jones FoundationW. Alton Jones Foundation
The W. Alton Jones Foundation was a charitable foundation, and a sponsor of environmental causes. It was originally involved in sponsoring the arts, particularly theatre....
donated $17.5 million dollars to the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. of to support the recruitment and program of Dr. Gordon H. Sato
Gordon H. Sato
Dr. Gordon Hisashi Sato, Ph.D. is an American cell biologist who first attained prominence for his discovery that polypeptide factors required for the culture of mammalian cells outside the body are also important regulators of differentiated cell functions and of utility in culture of new types...
as Director. Dr. Sato’s mission was to build a financially independent world-class basic research and teaching institute in the Adirondack Mountains
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....
generally oriented around the applications of cell culture technologies to broad problems in human health and disease through translational biotechnology to industry and the clinic. In his own words he envisioned "a self-endowed Rockefeller University-type institution" in the middle of the Adirondack Park, New York's statewide counterpart of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
.
In the period 1983-1993 the research staff of the Center increased by 10 fold. Sato purchased several local properties for staff and student housing. He established an international Ph.D. program in Chemical Biology with nearby Clarkson University
Clarkson University
-The Clarkson School:The Clarkson School, a special division of Clarkson University, was founded in 1978 as a unique educational opportunity. The School offers students an early entrance opportunity into college, replacing the typical senior year of high school with a year of college...
, Potsdam (village), New York
Potsdam (village), New York
Potsdam is a village located in the Town of Potsdam in St. Lawrence County, New York, USA. The population was 9,425 at the 2000 census.The Village of Potsdam is in the eastern part of the town and is northeast of Canton, the county seat....
and a joint program with the University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
, Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
. He established the annual W. Alton Jones International Symposium in Cellular Endocrinology centered on honoring movers and shakers in the field. During his administration the Center acquired program project grants from the National Cancer Institute
National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute is part of the National Institutes of Health , which is one of 11 agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NCI coordinates the U.S...
and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases , of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, conducts and supports research on many of the most serious diseases affecting public health...
. Through Sato’s efforts, the Cell Center acquired worldwide recognition through contributions of its researchers to basic research and biotechnological applications. Its former researchers and students hold leadership positions in academics and biotechnology worldwide. During this period the Lake Placid center became the headquarters of The Manzanar Project , a global action project aimed at attacking the planet's most critical problems as poverty, hunger, environmental pollution, and global warming through low tech biotechnological methods in salt water deserts that can be transferred to the indigenous inhabitants
To ensure financial independence, a permanent endowment for the research center, "to give scientists security and remove any temptation they may have felt to modify their research because of monetary support," Sato founded Upstate Biotechnology, Inc. (UBI) to be solely owned by the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. Startup for UBI was financed by loans from the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. from the $17.5 million gift from the W. Alton Jones Foundation
W. Alton Jones Foundation
The W. Alton Jones Foundation was a charitable foundation, and a sponsor of environmental causes. It was originally involved in sponsoring the arts, particularly theatre....
to ensure that ownership and proceeds of UBI flowed solely into support and long term endowment of the Cell Center without interference by private interests. As profitability of UBI increased, private interests and the controlling overlapping members of the Boards of both the for-profit UBI, the non-profit W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. and the non-profit W. Alton Jones Foundation
W. Alton Jones Foundation
The W. Alton Jones Foundation was a charitable foundation, and a sponsor of environmental causes. It was originally involved in sponsoring the arts, particularly theatre....
and their associates diverted the UBI mission away from the goal of providing permanent support and endowment of the Cell Center in its Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....
location in the Adirondack Mountains
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....
. This precipitated the resignation of Dr. Sato as Director.
Diversion of Upstate Biotechnology, Inc. and Dissolution
In 1996 Edgerton and Battle and associates recruited venture capitalist Sheridan SnyderSheridan Snyder
Dr. Sheridan Gray "Sherry" Snyder OBE, LLB , often referred to as Sherry Snyder, is an entrepreneurial figure in the biotechnology industry and a philanthropist, who has also made significant contributions to the development of the game of tennis.-Education:Mr...
to become involved with UBI, later called Upstate USA, Inc., Upstate Group or simply Upstate. In 1996 the not-for-profit W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc. was dissolved and the assets, which included Upstate Biotechnology, Inc., were transferred to a newly incorporated non-for-profit entity, the Adirondack Biomedical Research Institute (ABRI), Inc. In 1998 the ABRI ceased operations as a non-profit basic research entity and announced the facility would become an "incubator facility" for biotechnology companies in the Adirondack Mountains
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....
region with Upstate, Inc. and Argonex (a Snyder startup) as lead companies.
In 2000, the ABRI corporation was dissolved and the property and facilities purchased by for-profit Upstate, Inc. of which Argonex was a major shareholder for $1 million.. In 2004 Upstate was sold to Serologicals, Inc. for $204 million . Upstate and Serologicals, Inc. are now a division of Millipore Corporation
Millipore Corporation
EMD Millipore, also known as Merck Millipore outside the United States and Canada, was founded in 1954, listed among the S&P 500 since the early 1990s, is an international biosciences company, known widely for its micrometer pore-size filters and tests...
. The site was offered for sale on the Lake Placid real estate market by Millipore Corporation
Millipore Corporation
EMD Millipore, also known as Merck Millipore outside the United States and Canada, was founded in 1954, listed among the S&P 500 since the early 1990s, is an international biosciences company, known widely for its micrometer pore-size filters and tests...
for $5.9 million and was reportedly sold in 2007 to a local partnership of Lake Placid real estate and business investors for about $3 million.
In 2000 the Ivy Foundation chaired by William C. Battle
William C. Battle
William Cullen Battle was a lawyer, businessman, United States Ambassador to Australia, and president of the United States Golf Association....
was established with a reported endowment of $7 million from funds from the closure of the Adirondack Biomedical Research Foundation, Inc. (formerly the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Inc.) that included Upstate Biotechnology, Inc. . Subsequent to the sale of the Upstate Group in 2005 the Ivy Foundation listing Board of Directors as William C. Battle
William C. Battle
William Cullen Battle was a lawyer, businessman, United States Ambassador to Australia, and president of the United States Golf Association....
, Arthur Garson, Jr., William Black, Sheridan Snyder
Sheridan Snyder
Dr. Sheridan Gray "Sherry" Snyder OBE, LLB , often referred to as Sherry Snyder, is an entrepreneurial figure in the biotechnology industry and a philanthropist, who has also made significant contributions to the development of the game of tennis.-Education:Mr...
, Patricia J. Edgerton, Aaron Shatkin and Dr. Robert W. Battle made a gift of $45 million to the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, the largest single gift in the history of the University .
Just after the establishment of the Ivy Foundation, but prior to the sale of the privately held Upstate Biotechnology, Inc. to Serologicals, Inc., the Charlottesville, Virginia-based 56-year-old W. Alton Jones Foundation
W. Alton Jones Foundation
The W. Alton Jones Foundation was a charitable foundation, and a sponsor of environmental causes. It was originally involved in sponsoring the arts, particularly theatre....
suddenly dissolved in 2001 . The $400 million endowment was split into three separate Foundations, the Blue Moon Fund run by Patricia Jones Edgerton (daughter of W. Alton Jones) and her daughter Diane Edgerton Miller, the Oak Hill Foundation run by son William Edgerton, and the Edgerton Foundation run by son Brad Edgerton .