A message from David Van Andel, VAI Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Van Andel Institute is my parents’ legacy.  My father, Jay Van Andel, was a visionary businessman whose career positively impacted lives around the world.   My mother, Betty, was an equally talented educator and community leader.  Both were generous philanthropists who supported education, the arts, their faith community, health and human services, and civic development here in West Michigan.  Our lives are richer because they did.  

Their passion to enrich the quality of life was the inspiration behind Van Andel Institute, a preeminent independent medical research and education facility founded in 2000.  Our Board of Scientific Advisors, chaired by Michael S. Brown, M.D., and made up of five Nobel Laureates, was appointed in 1996 to guide establishment of Van Andel Research Institute (VARI).  Since that time, VARI Director of Research George Vande Woude, Ph.D., has attracted an international team of respected scientists and established a trajectory for becoming a worldwide leader in biomedical research.  VARI investigators focus on the genetic and molecular origins of cancer and other devastating illnesses and translating those discoveries into therapeutic strategies that will improve diagnosis and treatment and, ultimately, help prevent disease.   

But my parents’ vision was even broader than that realized by the Research Institute.  They were committed to preparing leaders through education.  To that end, VAI operates a second and complementary organization: Van Andel Education Institute (VAEI).  VAEI is dedicated to strengthening the academic pursuit of a cure and reinforcing core educational values in order to better prepare the scientists and leaders of tomorrow.  

Van Andel Institute Graduate School in cellular and molecular genetics is a product of that dedication.  This graduate program is both timely and vital as we receive reports of global challenges that call for the U.S. to refocus attention on science, technology and mathematic education.  Not only is the physical health of our nation dependent on this intellectual capital, so too is our economic health.  

The values that under gird the foundation of Van Andel Institute shaped this graduate program.  These include a culture of freedom and creativity that encourages individuals to fulfill their roles with excellence, integrity, and the highest ethical standards.  To such a community, I welcome you.