Ruth Gottesman donated $1 billion to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a very generous donation that now makes this school open to all.
INTERNATIONAL – The whole room cheered with joy. This Monday, February 26, The New York Times reported a story that can comfort the heart. After a very (very) generous donation, the medical school in the Bronx, New York, is now free for its students. It was the result of an unexpected gesture from one of his former teachers, now 93 years old and the widow of a Wall Street financier.
“He left me an entire portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway stock without my knowledge,” she told the New York Times, with the following instructions: “Do with it as you see fit.” Result: Ruth Gottesman paid $1 billion to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. When she told the students the news, euphoric screams of joy filled the room, as you can hear in the video below.
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Tuition is $59,000 per year
She then explained that her donation would allow new doctors to begin their careers without having to go into medical school debt and that she hopes this donation will provide access to the faculty for those who could not afford it , to go there.
“We have outstanding medical students, but this will open the door to many more students whose economic situation is such that they won't even consider going to medical school,” she said. According to The New York Times, tuition at this school is more than $59,000 per year.
In addition, doctors leaving the Bronx school are the most indebted in New York: half of them are more than $200,000 in debt upon graduation. In other, wealthier counties, only 25% of medical students are affected by this debt.
Ruth Gottesman admitted she wondered what her late husband would have thought of her decision. “I hope he smiles and doesn’t frown,” she said, laughing. “But he gave me the opportunity to do it and I think he would be happy – I hope so.”
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