Next-gen medics to study free as Ruth Gottesman donates record $1B to medical school

A record-breaking act of philanthropy has ensured that future doctors studying at a New York medical school will do so without the burden of student loans to cover their fees.

A $1 billion gift from Ruth L. Gottesman to Albert Einstein College of Medicine was hailed as “transformational.”

“With this gift, Dr. Gottesman will fund excellence in perpetuity and secure our foundational mission of advancing human health,” said Philip O. Ozuah, president and CEO of Montefiore Einstein, the umbrella organization for the college and the Montefiore Health System.

Gottesman has been a long-time professor at the medical school and is chair of its board of trustees. She is the widow of entrepreneur and philanthropist David ‘Sandy’ Gottesman, founder of investment firm First Manhattan Co., who died in 2022.  

“I am very thankful to my late husband, Sandy, for leaving these funds in my care, and l feel blessed to be given the great privilege of making this gift to such a worthy cause,” Ruth Gottesman said.  

Her gift is the largest ever made to a U.S. medical school and means that tuition fees will end as of August 2024.

Dr. Yaron Tomer, the Marilyn and Stanley Katz Dean at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said that the billion-dollar funding means the school can attract students who are committed to the school’s mission not just those who can afford it.

“We will be reminded of the legacy this historic gift represents each spring as we send another diverse class of physicians out across the Bronx and around the world to provide compassionate care and transform their communities,” Tomer said.

As well as the benefit for future students, all current fourth-year students will be reimbursed their spring 2024 semester tuition.

Despite the challenging economic and market conditions of recent years, philanthropy has been growing, with Fidelity Charitable reporting a record $11.8 billion in grants recommended by its donors in 2023, a fourfold increase over the past decade. Meanwhile, Schwab Charitable revealed that donors granted more than $6.1 billion to charity in 2023, an increase of 31% compared to 2022.

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