Renowned philanthropist and businessman T. Denny Sanford passed away July 18, 2026 in his hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He was 90 years old.

Renowned philanthropist and businessman T. Denny Sanford passed away July 18, 2026 in his hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He was 90 years old.

A self-made billionaire, Sanford had spent recent decades diligently spreading that wealth through philanthropy, primarily focusing on education, health services and biomedical research. His motto: “Aspire to inspire before you expire.”

“Denny was larger than life. He loved people, philanthropy, business and golf. He was my supporter and advisor, but more importantly, my confidant and friend. Denny was fascinated by science and education, especially in advancing ideas and efforts that would make lives better, both in terms of health and in well-being,” said David Brenner, CEO and president of Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute.

“His generosity was manifest, from supporting research and treatment of rare children’s diseases to stem cells to recruiting new generations of bright, young scientists to carry on the work. He loved to hear about how his philanthropic investments have benefited young people.”

Sanford Burnham Prebys was a frequent beneficiary.  In 2007, for example, Sanford gave the institute $20 million through Sanford Health, the largest rural health system in the U.S. and a longtime beneficiary of Sanford. The gift helped the then-called Burnham Institute to create the Sanford Children’s Health Research Center. A year later, Sanford donated $30 million to create the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, with the Institute as a founding member.

Two years later, Sanford donated $50 million and The Burnham Institute became the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. In 2023, he gave $70 million to Sanford Burnham Prebys to launch an ambitious plan to recruit up to 20 new scientists.

Sanford has been an honorary trustee at Sanford Burnham Prebys since 2009.

“Long before Denny’s and my names became inextricably linked through the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, we shared a common goal to make an impact in our communities and to serve others,” said Malin Burnham, who has served on its board of directors since 1982. “Denny embodied that purpose throughout his life, generously investing himself and his resources to benefit others, often with truly transformational results.” 

“Denny’s commitment to health and  medicine was extraordinarily broad and deep,” noted  Donald Kearns, MD, chair of the Board of Directors at Sanford Burnham Prebys and president emeritus of Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. Indeed he partnered with and supported specialized pediatric care for local families through the hospital, Sanford Children’s Clinic in Oceanside and the Children’s Primary Care Medical Group.

Sanford fundamentally believed that basic research and the benefits derived were driven and sustained by the people who do it. That was most evident in his philanthropy supporting education and in supporting new generations of scientists, said Brenner.

“Denny was a visionary committed to making a better world. His $70 million gift to recruit new faculty—the young investigators who will be future leaders—was a transformational investment in the continued strength of biomedical research at Sanford Burnham Prebys and across the Torrey Pines Mesa.,” said Brenner.

Sanford was born in Saint Paul, Minn. in 1935 during the Great Depression. His mother died of breast cancer when he was four years old. “She had been in the hospital for about a year before she died, so I have no memory of her at all,” Sanford recalled, but her death would inspire significant, subsequent support of cancer research by her son.

His father passed when he was 20.

“We have a lot of heart disease in my family,” he told the Horatio Alger Association, which honored him in 2016. “My father had several heart attacks throughout my childhood. My older brother had a fatal heart attack at the age of 40. I also had a heart attack at the age of 44, but I have had good health since then. But the loss of my father when I was still so young was a major blow to me.

“He was the most caring person I ever met. He never graduated high school because he had to help support his family. He was very giving, and I think my ideas about philanthropy, which is such an important part of my life today, came from him.”

Sanford did graduate from high school—and the University of Minnesota in 1959. In the following years, Sanford would be a sales representative for industrial cork and building materials. He started a distribution company that he transformed into a manufacturing and research firm.

In 1986, he purchased a small bank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with $80 million in assets, then created a credit card business: United National Corp., with its two subsidiaries, First Premier Bank and Premier Bankcard, soon had a $1 billion portfolio of credit card loans.

The scope of Sanford’s philanthropy is staggering.

He has donated more than $1 billion  to Sanford Health, a system of 48 medical centers, 211 clinics and 160 senior living centers in the upper Midwest, California and Florida, including funding to establish the Edith Sanford Breast Center in honor of his mother.

“What we always said is that at the end of every single decision we make is a patient,” said Bill Gassen, president and CEO of Sanford Health. “And for Denny, at the end of every gift is a patient.”

In addition, Sanford has made multi-million dollar gifts to the Sanford Underground Research Facility,  the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, the Sioux Falls Zoo and Aquarium  and the Children’s Home Society of South Dakota.

A part-time resident of San Diego, Sanford has made similar and substantial gifts to a host of local institutions: UC San Diego, National University, the Salk Institute, San Diego Public Library and the Zoological Society of San Diego.

To date, it’s estimated Sanford’s total philanthropy is approximately $2 billion.

“We are on earth to provide for other people, not just ourselves and our families,” Sanford said before his induction into South Dakota’s Hall of Fame in 2007. “We all have the opportunity to work a little bit harder and help someone else, not just ourselves.”

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Remembrances

Postbaccalaureate training program participants deliver capstone presentations, thank mentors and colleagues

In late June 2026, trainees in the LEAP (Laboratory Experience As Pathway to Graduate School) program at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute participated in a capstone presentation event. The scholars shared their research findings following a year of work and mentorship in labs throughout the Institute.

The LEAP program was designed to bridge the gap between college graduation and graduate school. It provides recent graduates with hands-on biomedical research experience, career development opportunities and mentorship to enhance their applications for—and ability to succeed in—highly competitive biomedical PhD programs.

With generous support from the Prebys Foundation, the LEAP program is offered through a collaborative partnership between the Sanford Burnham Prebys NCI-designated Cancer Center and Office of Learning and Development.

“Today we celebrate five of our LEAP program participants who have gained new skills, demonstrated research successes and grown as scientists throughout their journeys here,” said Kevin Yip, PhD, during his introductory remarks.

Following Yip’s welcoming address, the LEAP program mentors introduced the participants and invited them forward for their capstone presentations.

Yun Ma, a trainee in the Feng and Yip labs, discussed her study of proteins that group together in what are called protein complexes to carry out biological functions.

Ma developed a method for comparing data on RNA and proteins to identify priority genes affecting how protein complexes form. These priority genes may help shed new light on how diseases progress and may inform efforts to design new medications.

Her presentation was titled, “Inferring disease-associated changes in protein complex assembly from multimodal data.”

Sarina Safavi, a trainee in the Dhar lab, described her work to understand why cardiovascular disease—especially heart failure with preserved ejection fraction—is the leading cause of death among liver disease patients. Safavi developed tools needed to make new liver disease research models to study how the disease affects the heart.

The continuation of this research may lead to the discovery of new drug targets and methods for identifying liver disease patients at greater risk of heart failure to enable earlier treatments.

Her talk was titled, “Mechanistic understanding of MASLD-associated cardiac dysfunction and its reversibility.”

Josue Navarrete, a trainee in the Deshpande and Yip labs, detailed his project focused on small proteins from areas beyond the protein-coding genes that get the most scientific attention. Increasing amounts of evidence supports these microproteins’ biological importance, including in cancer.

Navarette optimized a computational technique for discovering microproteins which enables large-scale studies of thousands of genes. He tested the approach and found microproteins involved in stem cells becoming blood cells and other cells. Studying these microproteins may lead to new diagnostic techniques and potential treatments for blood cancers.

His lecture was titled, “Optimized pipeline enables genome-wide discovery of candidate microproteins in hematopoiesis.” Navarette will be joining the Institute as a doctoral student this fall.

Mahek Shah, a trainee in the Spruck lab, shared her study of a cancer treatment strategy that compels tumor cells to act as if they are infected by a virus. Known as viral mimicry, this therapeutic approach triggers the innate immune system to respond against cancer cells. Shah described drug screening experiments that identified promising novel candidate compounds.

In further tests, these compounds were found to activate viral mimicry, cause an immune response and to be toxic to cancer cells. Continued research may lead to new treatments that can boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and targeted therapies.

Her presentation was titled, “Novel compounds targeting histone modifying enzymes induce viral mimicry in breast cancer.”

Isabel Sakowicz, a trainee in the Tharp lab, discussed her research regarding the most common and difficult-to-treat form of ovarian cancer. These tumors can wall themselves off from the immune system with structural collagen proteins that resemble scar tissue.

Sakowicz explored how a potential treatment strategy might reduce levels of a form of collagen known to promote ovarian cancer invasiveness and metastasis. Lowering collagen VI levels may break down the barrier around ovarian cancer cells to make other treatments more effective, including immunotherapies.

Her presentation was titled, “FAK protein loss rewires amino acid metabolism in high-grade serous ovarian cancer.” Sakowicz will be joining the Institute as a doctoral student this fall.

In addition to discussing their respective projects, the trainees credited their mentors, fellow lab members and access to avenues for training and advancing as professionals.

“Beyond my scientific achievements, I have enjoyed many career development opportunities, including attending and presenting at workshops, seminars and conferences,” said Ma.

“Everyone in the lab has contributed to a truly supportive and cooperative environment,” said Safavi. “I would also like to thank the LEAP program coordinators for their efforts and making sure we were set up for success.”