Over $9 million left to Northwestern by former professors Christina Enroth-Cugell and David Cugell will help fund research on lung disease, visual neurosciences and biomedical engineering, according to a Tuesday news release.

Cugell, a professor in the Feinberg School of Medicine, was the University’s longest-serving faculty member, with a tenure of 58 years. Enroth-Cugell, who was on the faculty for 31 years, was one of the first female professors at McCormick School of Engineering.

Of the $9.39 million gift — which the University received upon Enroth-Cugell and Cugell’s deaths in 2016 — more than $4.39 million will support Feinberg candidates studying lung disease. More than $4.39 million will support doctoral students and fellows at The Graduate School studying visual neurosciences and biomedical engineering. The rest of the money will go to “support other areas of the University,” the release said.

“Christina and David blazed new trails throughout their careers at Northwestern, contributing to important milestones for our faculty and to science,” Provost Jonathan Holloway said in the release. “Through their very generous estate gifts, they have extended this special legacy, and we are grateful for their support of the generations of fellows who will follow in their footsteps.”

The family has been donating to the University for 34 years, and previous gifts have included donations to the Block Museum of Art, according to the release.

The donation counted toward the University’s “We Will” fundraising campaign, which surpassed its original goal of $3.75 billion last September. In the past, money from the “We Will” campaign has gone to funding services for low-income students, undergraduate research grants and the elimination of loans in financial aid packages.

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Twitter: @cam_e_cook

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