Larry Paul, MD ’90, remembers his Harvard Medical School experience as a time of great friendships, maturation, and intellectual challenge—not to mention some sleepless nights. It was also a crossroads in his life, as he weighed the merits and challenges of a career in cardiothoracic surgery against a future in business.

Though he followed his gut into the business world, Paul says he still enjoys the practice of medicine and has applied that knowledge beyond directly caring for patients. He has remained closely connected to the School, giving his time and talents as a member of the Board of Fellows, Campaign Steering Committee, co-chair of the Advisory Council on Education, and as a member of the Dean’s Council, HMS's leadership annual giving society. Now, he and his wife, Kathleen, have endowed a scholarship fund to help ensure the best and brightest students continue to choose HMS.

"Harvard Medical School is a collection of the smartest and most driven individuals who have the greatest opportunity to make a game-changing impact on the world," says Paul, a co-founder and managing principal of Laurel Crown Partners, LLC, a private equity firm in Los Angeles, Calif. "I am passionate about supporting these individuals because they will be the ones who improve the quality of life for all of us."

Dean for Medical Education Jules Dienstag, MD, agreed with Paul about the changing economics of the practice of medicine, including student indebtedness. "Philanthropists like Larry and Kathleen Paul are making a tangible difference for our students, whose ability to choose HMS and to select a career path after medical school is constrained by the specter of crushing debt."