Research Center at UMass Chan Celebrates New Name

WORCESTER, MA — The new nine-story, 350,000 square-foot research building at UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester has been named. It will be called the Paul J. DiMare Center, according to a news release by the school.

More than 100 people attended a naming celebration event Wednesday, to honor the Paul J DiMare Foundation, which donated $35 million to the school. That is the third-largest gift ever received by the University of Massachusetts, according to the release.

The release says that the center, which opened in June 2024, honors the late Paul J. DiMare, a Massachusetts native who was known as a national agricultural leader and philanthropist. The building will also support research into neurological diseases, such as ALS. DiMare was diagnosed with the disease in 2021 and died the following year.