The Given Institute

This Conference on medical research was in keeping with the tradition of "The Aspen Idea" creating a space for thinkers, leaders, artists and musicians from all over the world to join together in a setting that feeds the "Mind, Body and Spirit".

Dr. Donald West King then Chairman of the Department of Pathology at the University of Colorado Medical School was the original organizer of the Conference.

The 2+ acres of land overlooking Hallam Lake were sold to the University of Colorado by Elizabeth Paepcke for half its market value.

When it was completed, architecture critic Janet Bloom noted: “The basic square of the plan is maintained by brick terracing.

The porthole windows are reminders of the circle where it is least apparent.”'[5] Until the late 1980s facility maintenance costs were provided by the National Institutes of Health and other donations.