A civic and business leader in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1938 Herbert Herff raised the funds to establish the first blood bank in the U.S. South and only the fourth such facility in the entire country.
Years later, Herff's foundation was the first in Memphis to provide funding for sickle cell anemia.
When he died in 1966, Herbert Herff left the bulk of his estate in trust with the State of Tennessee for the benefit of the University.
More than forty years later, the Trust continues to help sustain and expand University programs.
[1] He died at a hospital in Palm Beach, Florida, where he had a winter home.