Chapman Shaw Root established this fund in honor of his mother, Virginia Shaw Sutherland Root, to support a professorship in pediatrics in the College of Medicine. Virginia was married to William R. Root, whose family founded the Root Glass Company, which created, manufactured and became the largest independent bottler of the widely famous Coca-Cola green contoured bottle. William was killed in an airplane accident in June 1932. In 1962, Virginia married Lieutenant General Richard Kerens Sutherland, who passed away in 1966.