Don Mattes began giving to the Picower Institute for Studying and Reminiscence at MIT earlier than he himself was recognized with Alzheimer’s illness. Since his demise in 2020, his spouse, Glenda, has carried ahead Don’s ardour for its work. “My want is that nobody ever has to undergo the horrors of Alzheimer’s illness ever once more,” Glenda says. The Matteses have additionally supported the Koch Institute for Integrative Most cancers Analysis at MIT.
Legacy sparks hope. An early key worker of Andover Controls who later ran the corporate’s European operations, Don visited six continents with Glenda throughout their 30-year marriage—usually to ski or bicycle. “Don’s was a life effectively lived, simply too brief,” Glenda says. The couple made provisions of their property plan to help the Picower Institute. After Don died, Glenda made a present to MIT of actual property that established each endowed and current-use funds there to help analysis on Alzheimer’s, dementia, and different neurodegenerative ailments. Glenda is a most cancers survivor, and the reward additionally endowed a fund within the couple’s identify on the Koch Institute.
Nice discoveries being made at MIT: “Don at all times stated one of the best factor he received from MIT was being taught easy methods to assume,” Glenda says. “MIT is an incredible place. Picower Institute director Li-Huei Tsai and her crew are doing greater than searching for a therapy for Alzheimer’s. They’re searching for the basis explanation for the illness. I’m additionally fascinated with the Koch’s melding of engineering and biology. The possibilities they’ll clear up the most cancers concern sometime are very excessive.”
Assist MIT construct a greater world.
For extra data, contact Amy Goldman: (617) 253-4082; goldmana@mit.edu. Or go to giving.mit.edu/planned-giving.
