Tremendous generosity propels School’s mission
Alumni Giving
S. J. Adelstein, MD ’53, PhD, contributes annually to a scholarship established in his name by transferring money from his IRA, allowing him to reduce the required minimum distribution and giving him a tax benefit. Friends and colleagues established the scholarship, which benefits MD-PhD students, when Adelstein retired in 1997 as the HMS executive dean for academic programs.
“My whole career has been at HMS or one of its affiliated institutions. It’s a great pride of place for me. And while I’m very pleased that they set this scholarship up in my name, I’m also pleased to continue to help augment the endowment,” says Adelstein, a member of the Dean’s Council, HMS’s
Laura Calvi, MD ’95, and Jonathan Friedberg, MD ’94, MMSc ’01, who married after meeting in medical school, are both academics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. Longtime members of the Dean’s Council, the couple tout the benefits of unrestricted giving. “Sitting here in New York, we may not know what the priority is minute to minute, but we’re able to provide funding so the School has the flexibility to use the money in the best possible way,” says Friedberg.
Calvi adds that their confidence in HMS is high due to their own experiences. “As a student, I was always able to see medicine as an incredible opportunity to impact health—through education, but also through research and patient care. HMS taught us how to excel in all these aspects,” she says. “This is something that we saw while we were there training, and when we came back for our 25th Reunion a few years ago, the labs were different, the classrooms were different, but the attitude was the same. To me, that was really exciting.”
Friedberg credits the depth and breadth of his education, his many mentors, and his peers for opening doors and inspiring him to pursue a research career. “Only 160ish students a year are given this jewel of an opportunity to begin their medical education at HMS. I want to make sure they have the tools they need to succeed and to make an impact on the world,” he says.
Johnson Lightfoote, AB ’72, MD ’76, MBA, the medical director of Pomona Valley Imaging Medical Group in California, served on his 45th Reunion Committee and was inspired to support the School’s Diversity and Community
Fund. He calls HMS a trendsetter and notes that many other medical schools imitated HMS’s initial diversity program, which began in 1969. “To the extent that Harvard has progressive plans, other institutions will follow. I use the phrase, ‘Harvard is first among equals,’” he says. “By helping Harvard achieve its goals of increasing diversity and representation, we improve not just Harvard, but other medical schools as well.”
Lightfoote, a member of the Dean’s Council and Federman Loyalty Circle, also helped organize an effort to raise funds for REACH scholarships, which make it
Natalie Tung, MD ’11, DDS, MBA, EdD, participates in the recurring giving program, providing monthly unrestricted support to the School as she pays off a Dean’s Council-level pledge. She says that while she was lucky not to be impacted financially by the COVID-19 pandemic, she realized that HMS would need unrestricted funds during this unprecedented time to help further its mission to improve health and well-being for all.
An academic oral and maxillofacial surgeon at the University of Southern California who celebrated her 10th Reunion this year, Tung says: “It was natural for me to give back to HMS, where I was trained to become not just a surgeon but a leader, trailblazer, and agent of change. In whatever spheres of influence I find myself in, I always ask how I can do better and make positive change.”