SimmonsCooper Philanthropic Support

A generous philanthropic gift from SimmonsCooper LLC and the Simmons Family Foundation has helped make the new cancer institute at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine a reality.  The SimmonsCooper Cancer Institute at SIU has been named in appreciation for the contribution.  The pledge of $10.2 million was announced in November 2005 by John and Jayne Simmons and Jeff Cooper.

The SimmonsCooper law firm, based in East Alton, Illinois, made the pledge to provide new resources to enhance cancer treatments and implement the continuing search for a permanent cure.  Part of the donation will be used to fund a new endowed chair at the Cancer Institute so that a nationally-known cancer researcher focused on respiratory-related forms of cancer can be recruited.

The SimmonsCooper pledge is the largest single gift in the history of Southern Illinois University and will help establish SIU as home to one of the leading cancer facilities in the United States.  The total pledge amount reflects a donation by the firm as well as a significant personal contribution by John and Jayne Simmons through the Simmons Family Foundation.

SimmonsCooper is one of the nation’s leading asbestos litigation firms.  Many of the firm’s clients suffer from mesothelioma, a rare lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure.