New York’s Choi Bin Bronx area medical school offers free education starting in August
In the will of her husband, a financier who passed away two years ago, “Do the right thing,” she decided to “eliminate the burden of student loans.”
“I want to give opportunities to students who cannot dream of going to medical school because of expensive tuition.”
Professor Emeritus Ruth Gottesman (94) of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, which is considered the poorest among the five boroughs of New York City, announced on the 26th that she would donate $1 billion (approximately 1.3 trillion won) to the university. revealed. This is the largest donation ever received by a U.S. medical school.
Accordingly, students entering this medical school starting this August will be able to focus on their studies without worrying about tuition. In effect, it is a transition to ‘free education’. U.S. medical school tuition costs an average of $59,000 (approximately 80 million won) per year.
The money donated by Professor Gottesman is equivalent to one-third of the approximately $3 billion legacy left behind by her husband, David, who passed away in 2022. David, a Jewish financier, ran an investment advisory firm called ‘First Manhattan’ on Wall Street during his lifetime. He also served as an early investor and director of Berkshire Hathaway, founded by legendary investor Warren Buffett, and made a lot of money. The two were married for 72 years starting in 1950 and were active in charity work. Already in 2008, $25 million was donated to this medical school.
At the time of his death, David left a will to his wife: “Do what you think is right.” Professor Gottesman, who was considering how to use the money, met with dozens of high school students in person and listened to their concerns. After realizing that the difficult-to-afford student loans were suppressing the dreams of young people, he decided to donate. About 50% of this medical school’s graduates begin their careers with student loans worth more than $200,000. This is twice the average for medical schools in New York (about 25%).
Initially, the university proposed changing the name of the medical school after Professor Gottesman. However, he refused, saying, “I don’t need anyone to know.” The New York Times praised Professor Gottesman’s decision to donate to a school in the Bronx, saying, “Many billionaires often donate to medical schools in Manhattan, where the wealthy live.”
Professor Gottesman, who holds a doctorate in education, pioneered the field of learning disabilities while serving as a professor at this medical school for 33 years. He developed and distributed learning disability screening and evaluation tools and treatments, and also created a dyslexia treatment program for adults.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.