SALT LAKE CITY — Like many of the philanthropists and leaders of philanthropic organizations meeting in Utah this week, industrialist Jon M. Huntsman has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to advance medical research, fund scholarships, and to house and feed needy people.
It's not enough for him to just help financially, said Pamela Atkinson, a longtime friend of the Huntsman family and an advocate for Utah's poor, addressing the Philanthropy Roundtable's 2014 meeting at the Grand America Thursday afternoon.
"He knows the difference between caring for people and caring about people. That caring about is all-encompassing, and thousands of people have had their lives changed because Jon cared enough to give his very best," Atkinson said.
For example, Huntsman and his wife Karen make "rounds" at Huntsman Cancer Institute, offering patients encouragement and support, she said.
Once, before undergoing a long hospitalization, Huntsman donated $1 million to Catholic Community Services' St. Vincent de Paul Center, which serves lunch and dinner and provides day services to homeless men, women and families.
"He does so much good, and we never hear about these actions," she said.
It was fitting, then, that Huntsman be awarded the Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership, Atkinson said.
The prize honors the ideals of philanthropist William E. Simon, which include personal responsibility, resourcefulness, voluntarism, scholarship, individual freedom, faith in God and helping people to help themselves.
"When we think about those words, who comes to mind but Jon M. Huntsman?" Atkinson said.
Huntsman, founder and principal benefactor of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, was awarded the prize on opening day of the Philanthropy Roundtable's annual meeting.
The honor comes with a $250,000 prize, of which Huntsman donated $200,000 to the Huntsman Cancer Institute and $25,000 each to the YWCA of Salt Lake's Kathleen Robison Huntsman Apartments and St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall.
Simon's son, Bill Simon Jr., said he couldn't imagine a better way to honor his late father's legacy.
"My family and I know dad would be so proud and happy to know the prize winner this year is Jon Huntsman Sr.," Simon said.
Simon was a pioneering private equity fund leader and served as secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
He also served on the U.S. Olympic Committee for more than 30 years, including the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Simon provided hundreds of scholarships for underprivileged high school and college students.
In the last years of his life, Simon served as a eucharistic minister to hospital patients, many of whom were destitute and terminally ill.
Previous winners of the prize include Eli and Edythe Broad, Bernie Marcus, Charles Koch, Roger Hertog, Phil and Nancy Anschutz, Dr. Ben Carson, the late Sir John Templeton, and the late John Walton.
Huntsman, who was visibly moved by the honor, said, "It means the world to me. I feel very humbled sitting before you. It's taken me aback a little bit."
Huntsman did not give a formal address but responded to questions posed by Christopher Levenick, director of academic and scientific engagement for the John Templeton Foundation.
When asked about the personal interest that Huntsman takes in his giving, Huntsman said he and his family meet weekly with Mary Beckerle, CEO and director of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, to keep abreast of the institute's work and to ensure progress is being made toward Huntsman's stated goal of "eradicating cancer from the face of the earth."
Whether it's the regular meetings with Beckerle, principal investigator of the institute, or Douglas D. Anderson, dean of Utah State University's Huntsman School of Business, Huntsman said it is important to track how private donations are used.
"The key to private charity is for us to always maintain an ongoing interest in whatever it is we give (to). When we turn it over to somebody else, invariably it's lost because they didn't make it, they didn't feel the heartache of taking risks," he said.
Like many other philanthropists, Huntsman said he and his wife have deeply personal reasons for supporting various causes or programs.
Huntsman is a cancer survivor and both of his parents died from cancer. "My mother died in my arms in her 50s of breast cancer," he said.
The logical progression in his philanthropy was committing more than $450 million to the Huntsman Cancer Institute, which combines state-of-the-art research with compassionate inpatient and outpatient care.
"Each cause we believe in is usually something we've experienced in our own life. Karen and I give to a lot of causes because we've worn those moccasins. We know how it feels."
Email: marjorie@deseretnews.com