Celebrating the Feeney Way

The University of Queensland community is deeply saddened by the passing of philanthropist Charles ‘Chuck’ Feeney, whose extraordinary generosity transformed the research landscape at UQ and across Australia, leading to many ground-breaking discoveries. UQ honoured Chuck and Helga Feeney’s significant philanthropic impact last year by naming the thoroughfare outside the iconic Forgan Smith building ‘Feeney Way’.

Vale Chuck Feeney

When Chuck and Helga Feeney made their first gift through The Atlantic Philanthropies almost four decades ago, it was hard to imagine the monumental impact they would have on the world today.

The couple have donated an astounding $8 billion to transform communities globally through programs in biomedical research, human rights, ageing, health, children and more.

Chuck and Helga Feeney.

Chuck and Helga Feeney.

Chuck and Helga’s ‘Giving While Living’ philosophy has left an incredible legacy, inspiring countless others – from people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to the everyday donor – to dedicate their wealth to giving back now.

At The University of Queensland, the Feeneys’ impact has been unparalleled: across 14 years, The Atlantic Philanthropies gave more than $100 million to UQ to help establish the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, the Queensland Brain Institute, the Centre for Clinical Research, the Translational Research Institute and the UQ Centre, as well as a new home for the UQ Art Museum.

The Feeney legacy

Learn more about the significant impact these institutes have had on Queensland and the world.

Read the story

This generosity, alongside other giving in Queensland, leveraged more than $461 million in Queensland Government funding.

In 2022, the University awarded Chuck and Helga Honorary Doctorates and renamed the thoroughfare outside the iconic Forgan Smith building at the St Lucia campus to ‘Feeney Way’ to recognise their extraordinary impact at UQ.

This followed the leadership of Cornell University, Chuck’s alma mater, which unveiled ‘Feeney Way’ on their Ithaca campus in 2021 to honour Chuck’s contributions. Across both prestigious universities, for generations to come, visitors will continue to be reminded of all that has been achieved with the Feeney's support and inspired to walk their own journey of generosity.

As part of these celebrations at UQ, Contact spoke to some of the people who have felt the impact of Chuck and Helga’s generosity the most.

Watch the video.

The Feeney Way, at UQ's St Lucia campus.

Emeritus Professor Perry Bartlett

Emeritus Professor Perry Bartlett AO

Founding director of the Queensland Brain Institute

When I came up to Queensland, my goal was to establish an institute that looked at the basic processes regulating how the brain works. It was the beginning of a new era – fundamentally, we didn’t understand how the brain functioned, so my idea was that we’d bring together a group of talented neuroscientists in this new institute to do just that.

At the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), we now have 500 researchers who are making incredible breakthroughs in solving the overwhelming problem of mental health and neurological disease. Chuck and Helga have always been interested in mental health – and especially in the mental health and wellbeing of ageing people – so I’m also happy to say that one of the outcomes of QBI over the past 15 years is the research into how we might prevent dementia during ageing.

The truth is – without Chuck and Helga, I wouldn’t be here, and the Institute wouldn’t be here. Without their contribution, and their influence on state and federal government to also invest in the idea, the QBI initiative never would have occurred.

They’re fundamentally the founders of QBI. To them, I would say: thank you.

Emeritus Professor Perry Bartlett

Professor Fabienne Mackay

Director and CEO of QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

QIMR Berghofer is an institution with an incredible history: it started in 1945 with humble beginnings in a hut in Victoria Park in Brisbane, leftover from the US Army.

The work done in those early days up until now is simply extraordinary. It includes our discoveries of new viruses, like Ross River Virus and other mosquito-borne tropical diseases, as well as our research in cancer, immunotherapy, population health and global health. Today, we’re in the top 100 non-profit science institutions globally in the Nature Index.

The role of philanthropy is absolutely vital to research. When you look at traditional sources of funding, like grants, they don’t cover the full costs of research, and we need to rely on other sources of support – like philanthropy.

Beyond this, one of the advantages of philanthropic funding – and what is really inspiring about it – is being able to involve our supporters in the work. It’s a true collaboration and we can really share with donors the progress of the work we’re doing.

What I’d like to say to Chuck and Helga on behalf of QIMR Berghofer, and certainly all of us in Queensland, is thank you. We admire your vision and generosity, and hope you recognise that your contributions have made a massive difference in the lives of researchers, clinicians and patients in Queensland and beyond.

Dr Holly Arden

Director of UQ Art Museum

With their gift to the UQ Art Museum, Chuck and Helga Feeney wanted to focus on student enrichment and cross-campus pollination. Their support reinvigorated what we were doing, allowing us to move from the Forgan Smith tower into the outstanding Mayne Centre and to become the incredible art museum we are today.

That dream of cross-campus pollination has come true: as a research and learning facility, we strive to work with all areas of UQ to allow students to experience art in a way that will change their world views, complicate understandings and inspire critical thinking. We also employ up to 20 UQ students at any one time as casual workers and interns, training the arts workers of the future.

Without philanthropy, we couldn’t do what we do today. Chuck and Helga’s support has unlocked enormous potential: we’re now one of the most visited university art museums in Australia, having up to 70,000 people through our doors in a non-COVID year. We’ve trained dozens of people who have gone onto have amazing jobs at QAGOMA, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Sotheby’s and more.

My vision for the UQ Art Museum is for every UQ student, across every discipline, to have a rich learning experience with us, as we know that the study of art cultivates higher-order, critical thinking skills and prepares UQ students to be conscious global citizens. I see UQ Art Museum and UQ being a premiere site for our arts, culture and ideas in Queensland, if not the world – particularly as we head towards the Olympics.

Thanks to Chuck and Helga, we’re ideally placed for that. Their generosity has changed countless lives and will continue to in the years to come.

Dr Holly Arden

Professor Ian Frazer

Professor Ian Frazer AC

Founding CEO and Director of the Translational Research Institute

Philanthropy, like Chuck and Helga’s, is critical to biomedical research. This is particularly true for the discovery component of research: you know what you’re looking for, but you don’t know how to find it.

With the Translational Research Institute (TRI), we set out to build an environment where basic research could be turned into clinical practice as quickly as possible and for the widest range of projects. Ultimately, what convinced Chuck and Helga to support the project was the need for a facility where scientists and doctors could work together to solve medical problems. It was common to have spaces for scientists and spaces for doctors, but there was a shortage of spaces where the two came together. TRI has provided the opportunity to fill that gap.

Today, TRI houses more than 650 researchers, from PhD students to professors. In the past year, we’ve recruited over 50 new positions as we continue to grow, with an international reputation that often attracts talented researchers from overseas. All of this has set up a hub where leading research is now being translated into clinical outcomes for a wide range of diseases.

Without the support of Chuck and Helga, TRI would have never existed. The seed funding they provided enabled further funding from state and federal government, and eventually the construction of the building we continue to occupy today.

Professor Ian Henderson

Director of the Institute for Molecular Bioscience

When Chuck and Helga helped establish the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), they saw the potential and grit of Queenslanders to achieve a vision of a knowledge-based economy, both for the betterment of Queensland and Australia as a whole.

With IMB, I believe we’ve achieved that vision. UQ is now Australia’s top research institution for research quality and output (using an independent metric system called Nature index ranking). We’re also the leading university for research commercialisation, such as the sale of Inflazome to swiss pharmaceutical company Roche in 2021 in one of the world’s largest biotech deals.

Philanthropy has become increasingly important in research, particularly with the global phenomenon of governments moving away from funding basic science. Philanthropy bridges this gap to translate discovery into tangible meaning for society, so we can bring those new technologies and new medicines to the world.

In the years to come, IMB is going to continue to fulfil the vision and ambition of Chuck and Helga’s initial investment, driving fundamental research discovery and harnessing that information to translate it into benefit for society.

Professor Ian Henderson

Professor Alan Rowan

Director of the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology

Without the vision of Chuck and Helga Feeney, the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) would not be solving some of the world’s most serious problems. Chuck and Helga, along with enthusiastic support from the then Queensland Premier Peter Beattie AC and The University of Queensland, led to the launch of the AIBN in a purpose built, state-of-the-art facility in October 2006.

It was a great honour when Chuck and Helga Feeney attended the opening of AIBN because it was the first time they had appeared publicly to open an entity that they had supported.

Merging bioengineering and nanotechnology was a new way of working and it has resulted in the integrated, multi-disciplinary research institute we are today. Our 400 world-class researchers work closely with clinicians, industry and academia to translate science into game-changing solutions, playing a critical role in vaccine manufacturing and future biotechnology.

An entrepreneur drawn to collaboration, Chuck leveraged government contributions and launched matched giving challenges to entice Australian donors. His giving is one of the earliest examples of the co-funding strategy popular today. This entrepreneurial spirit is at the heart of the AIBN, without his vision we would not be creating the solutions it is today.

Professor Jason Roberts

Acting Director of UQ Centre for Clinical Research

The impact that Chuck and Helga Feeney have had on research, particularly health and medical research, at The University of Queensland is highly significant. The Feeney’s vision to embed academics with hospital clinicians is highlighted through their major contribution to the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine’s, University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research (UQCCR), which opened in 2007.

Now, 15 years later and with 256 excellent staff and students working closely with clinicians at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) and the Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS), as well as many other collaborators globally, UQCCR continues to drive and facilitate many gains in new scientific knowledge, with more than 4000 journal publications from more than $120 million in grant funding since 2008.

The Feeney’s legacy has also led to major advances in healthcare through UQCCR and the four research themes: cancer, clinical neurosciences, fertility and infectious diseases. Recent key achievements of UQCCR include leadership of major international clinical trials in infectious diseases and gynaecological cancer that have changed the way patients are treated globally.

UQCCR is proud to have grown into the Centre it has become and gratefully acknowledges the generosity of Chuck and Helga Feeney for UQCCR’s genesis.

Professor Jason Roberts