The Ford Foundation announced a $50 million endowment grant to Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. The grant will establish the Institute for Government Innovation at the Kennedy School.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research announced that it has awarded 15 grants totaling more than $1.5 million to researchers looking for a cure for Parkinson's Disease. The Foundation has already begun work with the NIH and with other private foundations to develop plans for a joint funding initiative to support additional research in Parkinson's disease.

The James S. Kemper Foundation awarded a three-year $125,000 grant to La Salle University to further develop their e-Commerce Institute. The program, open to any La Salle student, began two years ago.