Stanford University's School of Medicine will receive $75 million from Atherton businessman and Business Wire founder Lorry Lokey to help build what university officials say will be the nation's largest center for stem cell research, it was announced today.

Lokey's gift will help fund a 200,000-square-foot building that will be known as a the Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building. The four-story building will house 350 scientists.

"Stem cells are going to be as significant as the silicon chip that created Silicon Valley," Lokey said. "Stem cells are going to introduce an entirely new field of medicine for extending lives and improving the quality of life."

Lokey had earlier made a gift for the new building in February 2007.

His gift is the largest to the Stanford School of Medicine from a private donor and one of the largest in the university's history.

His gift will help build a new home for the Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Institute.

"Over the years, (Lokey) has conveyed his deep interest in stem cell biology and his belief that this area of research will impact science and ultimately improve the human condition," Stanford School of Medicine Dean Philip Pizzo said. "Thanks to his generosity, we will have the opportunity to move his vision and dream closer to reality — and to do so with deep gratitude and respect for him."

— Don Kazak