The Steele Foundation made a $1-million gift to the Barrow Ball, completing the $2-million endowment of a chair in neurosurgical education. The endowed chair will be named in honor of Dr. Robert Spetzler, director of Barrow, “whose leadership in research, clinical care and surgery has established Barrow as a world-renowned center,” says Marianne Cracchiolo Mago, President of The Steele Foundation.
Endowed chairs enable nationally recognized physicians and scientists to pursue research and run laboratories, ensuring ongoing scientific contributions within a specialty area. Only a portion of the interest generated by the endowment goes to the chair each year; the rest remains untouched so that the endowment can continue to grow and support the chair.
Already, funds from the chair have enabled several neurosurgeons from other countries to complete research fellowships at Barrow. Currently, Dr. Pakrit Jittapiromsak of Thailand holds the fellowship and is conducting anatomical research at Barrow.
The Steele Foundation is a private foundation dedicated to the support of education, the arts, scientific research and organizations focused on the growth of children and families to achieve success across the state of Arizona. Endowed by Horace and Ethel Steele in 1985, it now donates approximately $5 million each year to various community causes.
The Steele Foundation has flourished under the leadership of Chairman and CEO Daniel Cracchiolo. For 30 years, Cracchiolo represented Horace Steele as his attorney. Cracchiolo, along with some of Steele’s close friends, presented him with the idea of establishing a charitable foundation. After Horace and Ethel Steele passed away, Cracchiolo began building the foundation’s assets and has grown the corpus of the fund three fold. To date The Steele Foundation has awarded more than $50 million in grants within the state of Arizona.
Leadership of The Steele Foundation now includes Cracchiolo’s daughter, Marianne Cracchiolo Mago, who left her position with Warner Brothers Television in Los Angeles to serve as President. She brings new ideas and new energy to the forefront.
