The award was presented during ceremonies in Palm Springs, California on November 19, 2005. Mr. Stowers’ recognition is part of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards program co-sponsored by the Kansas City-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Jay Leno served as master of ceremonies for the program.

     Mr. Stowers founded the American Century mutual fund family in 1958. He and his wife, Virginia Stowers, have devoted their personal fortune to establishing combined endowments of $2 billion to support the Stowers Institute.

     “I was impressed. It was quite an occasion,” Mr. Stowers said.

     “This really was a grand event,” said Richard Brown, co-chair of the Stowers Institute, who accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Stowers to the award ceremony. “Jim and Virginia opted to devote their resources to science rather than activities that may have garnered more awards, but all of us at the Institute would agree with their priorities.”

     Mr. and Mrs. Stowers’ gift of stock in American Centuries Companies constitutes most of the endowment of the Stowers Institute. Annual dividends from this stock support research conducted at the Institute in Kansas City and provide funds for planned expansion of the laboratory facilities.

     “Everyone who has the privilege of working at the Institute feels pride in the accomplishments of Jim and Virginia Stowers and gratitude for their generosity,” said William Neaves, President and CEO of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. “They have combined entrepreneurial success with groundbreaking philanthropy, and people here in Missouri and around the world are the beneficiaries.”

About the Stowers Institute
     Housed in a 600,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility on a 10-acre campus in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research conducts basic research on fundamental processes of cellular life. Through its commitment to collaborative research and the use of cutting-edge technology, the Institute seeks more effective means of preventing and curing disease. The Institute was founded by Jim and Virginia Stowers, two cancer survivors who have created combined endowments of $2 billion in support of basic research of the highest quality.