Home >  Local News

Monday, October 28, 2002

By Steve Levin, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Between 1997 and 2000, one of the largest recipients of donor-designated giving through the United Way of Allegheny County was an organization without a single tie to Pittsburgh.

The Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, a nonprofit group located in Silver Spring, Md., which is seeking a cure for the genetic condition tuberous sclerosis complex, received about $936,000 during those years.

Nearly all of that money was courtesy of William E. Watts, who was then chief executive officer of General Nutrition Co., the Pittsburgh-based vitamin and health supplement company.

Watts, who resigned as CEO in March 2001, said that he identified with the alliance because of the nature of the disease. He declined to explain further.

Tuberous sclerosis complex is characterized by skin and central nervous system lesions, tumor growth and seizures. Some people experience developmental delay, mental retardation and autism. It affects about one in 6,000 babies, or about 50,000 people in the United States.

"A lot of people who have it don't know they have it," said Watts, who has been on the alliance's board of directors for six years.

During those four years in Pittsburgh, Watts said GNC matched 50 cents of every dollar employees contributed to the United Way. He designated that his money go directly to the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance.

His largest donation came in 1999 when he gave $308,126; his smallest during that period was $150,750.

Michael Coburn, president of the alliance, said that Watts remains the organization's single largest donor. In 2000, for example, Watts' donation of $251,276 provided almost 10 percent of the alliance's operating budget.

"It's only because of Mr. Watts' support that we were able to develop a diagnostic genetic test for the disease," Coburn said.