James and Sherry Raisbeck Foundation

Over the past several years, Raisbeck Engineering's support in philanthropic giving has markedly increased. To date, over $13 million in cash has been gifted, and several million more has been pledged.

Raisbeck Engineering’s founder, owner, Chairman James D. Raisbeck commented, "My wife Sherry and I are pleased to share our financial good fortune in support of specific areas in which we are personally involved, in the areas of education, the arts, and the bio-medical field."

Latest recipient is the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where the Raisbecks have pledged to match $1.5 million from other donors, with $3 million raised during the December 2, 2000 Hutch Holiday Gala. The money is being used to open a new branch of research at the Hutch to investigate the cause and develop a cure for Lymphoma. The Dr. Penny E. Petersen Memorial Chair for Lymphoma Research is named after Raisbecks’ late friend who died too young of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Previous gifts by the Raisbecks, their Foundation, and Raisbeck Engineering have included an International Touring Fund for the Pacific Northwest Ballet ($1 million plus $250,000 per year), the Seattle Opera Principal Singers’ Fund ($1 million plus $250,000 per year), Cornish College of the Arts for new educational facilities ($1 million plus multi-million dollar pledge) and Purdue University for a Distinguished Engineering Chair in the field of applied aerodynamics ($2 million).

The Raisbecks’ good fortune has come from over 40 years of involvement in the airplane, airline and aerospace research and development area. Many thousands of airplanes, from the Cessna 182, King Air and Learjet through Boeing and Airbus Airplanes are flying with improved aerodynamic, performance, and productivity systems, all proprietary in nature and all well-accepted in the marketplace.