Stirred by the struggles of families coping with childhood manifestations of emotional illness, Douglas and Margaret Colbeth of Naperville made a gift commitment of more than $2.1 million to create the Douglas and Margaret Colbeth Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinic at UIC.

The clinic supports research, teaching, and clinical services for early detection and effective treatment of chemical imbalances.

It is cutting-edge in its approach to detect and treat bipolar disorder and depression in children before their brain chemistry changes dramatically.

"The future of psychiatry is prevention and the technology and clinical acumen is at the point where we are able to intervene effectively in serious brain diseases in late childhood and early adolescence," said Joseph Flaherty, professor and head of psychiatry. "The Colbeths' generous support will allow us to move this field forward to finding ways to identify and intervene even earlier in the course of these disorders."

"Early diagnosis and treatment has been proven to dramatically improve the quality of life for patients and their loved ones," said Doug Colbeth. What makes this innovative clinic even more special is its focus on helping inner city children who often go underserved in our health care industry."

"Some of the world's leading research for children and adolescents who suffer from various types of chemical imbalances is being done in Chicago," said Margaret Colbeth. "We're really proud that last year twenty-two thousand children walked through the doors of the clinic. We could not have wanted anything more from our gift than that."

Doug Colbeth was the cofounder of Spyglass Inc., a leading provider of software products and professional consulting services. Among its many products, Spyglass codeveloped and distributed the Mosaic software that was originated by the University of Illinois and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. The commercialized version became the foundation of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. In March 2000, Colbeth sold Spyglass and is now a high-tech investor and consultant to emerging companies.

With the support of the Colbeths' significant gift, the center is in an excellent position to achieve major advances in the detection and treatment of mental illness in children.

Role of Philanthropy at UIC

Despite a year in which our campus was enormously impacted by the economic environment and the challenges of our nation, philanthropy to UIC remains strong. Our intense commitment to develop our students into tomorrow's leaders has kept UIC in its place as one of the premier research universities in the nation and a vital force in metropolitan Chicago. Our generous donors play a major role in UIC's momentum by creating opportunities where none may have existed before and providing resources crucial for success. Gifts from alumni, friends, corporations, foundations, and other organizations will, to an increasing degree, provide the difference between what we have been and what we will become.