MIT’s Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation (DAPER) has received a $2.5 million gift that will be used to endow the department’s director of sports medicine position. The announcement was made Tuesday by Julie Soriero, head of DAPER and the director of athletics at MIT. The generous donation was made by Walter Price ’70 and will establish the Walter C. Price ’70 Family Director of Sports Medicine at MIT.
Price, who graduated from MIT in 1970 with a degree in electrical engineering, was a three-time letterwinner in wrestling and a co-captain of the 1969-70 team. He is currently the managing director of Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC, located in San Francisco.
“Athletic activities are so important to the students for their life not only at MIT, but even after MIT,” Price said. “I am pleased to support this essential element of their health and well-being as well as their experience.”
“On behalf of my colleagues across the Institute who provide direct support to students, I express a genuine 'thank you!' to Walter and his family,” remarked Tom Cronan, MIT’s director of sports medicine. “This gift will make it possible for us to extend our particular service and assist a broader subset of the campus’ physically active student population.”
Price’s transformational gift will allow MIT to add an additional sports medicine professional to the DAPER staff to improve the unit’s ability to preserve the experience of injured students as well as to provide timely access to sports medicine health care — not only for varsity student-athletes but for students participating in club sports as well. This position will be open at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year.
