Longtime Faculty Couple Supports Northwestern with a Bequest

An estate gift from David Cugell and Christina Enroth-Cugell will fund research in science and medicine

In 2016, Northwestern lost two of its longest-serving faculty members, David Cugell and Christina Enroth-Cugell. The couple began their respective careers at the University in the 1950s, shortly after getting married, and went on to have a combined tenure of approximately 90 years. The couple‘s commitment to Northwestern—and to advancing research in their respective fields—inspired them to leave a generous bequest to the University.

Cugell joined Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine as its third full-time faculty member. As a professor of pulmonary medicine and the first chief of the Division of Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care Medicine, Cugell became known for applying new techniques to the clinical care of his patients, and is credited with bringing pulmonary function tests—now a mainstay of pulmonary care—to Chicago. He also was known for his deep commitment to developing the next generation of physicians in his field.

Enroth-Cugell trained at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, where she studied under Nobel Prize laureate and renowned vision scientist Ragnar Granit. Enroth-Cugell began her career at Northwestern as a research fellow and instructor in the University‘s Department of Ophthalmology. She went on to hold a joint faculty appointment at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, and served as chair of the Department of Neurobiology in the 1980s.

Among her many professional accomplishments, Enroth-Cugell demonstrated how visual information is conveyed in parallel pathways from the retina to the brain in the 1960s. She was later named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

As one of the first female professors to teach engineering at Northwestern, Enroth-Cugell paved the way for other young women to study science and engineering. “She faced many hurdles as one of the only females in a male-dominated world,” says John Troy, professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern, who was one of Enroth-Cugell‘s post-doctoral students and a close friend of both her and Cugell. Many of today‘s top vision scientists studied in Enroth-Cugell‘s lab, which became a hub for vision research and training at the University.

While they were still active in their careers, the Cugells made a commitment to advancing research in the areas to which they dedicated their professional lives. Through a generous bequest in their estate, they created the Dr. Christina Enroth-Cugell and Dr. David Cugell Fellowship Fund to support PhD candidates, post-doctoral fellows, and post-MD candidates working in the fields of lung disease, visual neurosciences, and biomedical engineering.

Bequests—most often made through a will or trust—are an effective way to make a significant impact at Northwestern. They can be structured to support a particular school or program, or to offer unrestricted support to the University. Bequests are simple and revocable, and allow donors to retain control of their assets while they are alive.

“The Cugells supported Northwestern because it was their home for the bulk of their professional lives,” Troy says. “These gifts serve as a natural extension of their careers.”

Extend Your Impact

Transform the lives of future students and strengthen the programs that matter to you with a gift to Northwestern in your will. Contact Northwestern Gift Planning at 800-826-6709 or giftplanning@northwestern.edu to start planning your gift.