(New York) A renowned medical school in New York’s underprivileged Bronx borough has announced it will make tuition free for all students for life after receiving a donation of billion dollars from a former professor.
Announced in front of hundreds of students gathered in an amphitheater, the news was greeted with thunderous applause, shouts and hugs, according to a video published Monday on X by the Montefiore University Hospital, to which the Albert Einstein School of Medicine.
“This historic gift – the largest ever made to a medical school in the country – will ensure that no Einstein student will ever have to pay any tuition fees,” or $60,000 per year of study, says the Montefiore institution in a press release.
The school is located in the Bronx, the poorest borough of the megacity of 8.5 million inhabitants and which has the worst health indicators in New York State.
The donation came from a former professor of pediatrics at the school, and current president of its board of directors, Ruth Gottesman. Aged 93, she is the widow and heiress of a Wall Street financier close to Warren Buffett, David Gottesman, who died in 2022 at the age of 96.
PHOTO DAVID DEE DELGADO, THE NEW YORK TIMES
The donation came from a former professor of pediatrics at the school, and current president of its board of directors, Ruth Gottesman.
I am very grateful to my late husband, Sandy (his nickname), for entrusting me with these funds, and I feel blessed to have the great privilege of making this donation to such a noble cause.
Ruth Gottesman, in the press release from the Montefiore institution
“Every year,” she adds, “more than 100 students enter the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to earn degrees in medicine and science. They emerge as fully trained scientists and compassionate, knowledgeable doctors with the expertise to research new ways to prevent disease and provide the best health care to people here in the Bronx. , and throughout the world.
According to the school, the donation will “attract talented and diverse students who may not otherwise be able to afford to pursue medical studies.” “It will enable generations of healthcare leaders to push the boundaries of research and care, without the burden of a crushing loan,” adds Montefiore.