A historic donation to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York will allow students to attend the medical school tuition-free. Dr. Ruth Gottesman, a former professor at the school and the current Chair of the Board of Trustees, gifted a staggering $1 billion. The NY Times described it as, “one of the largest charitable donations to an educational institution in the United States and most likely the largest to a medical school.”
Upon her husband’s death in 2022, Dr. Gottesman was surprised to receive a portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway stock, which financed the gift. He included the instructions to “Do whatever you think is right with it.” Upon consideration of the sum, she knew with certainty what she wanted to do. “I wanted to fund students at Einstein so that they would receive free tuition,” she said. “There was enough money to do that in perpetuity.” Gottesman hopes this gift will not only free students just starting out in their careers from crippling medical school debt, but that it will also broaden the student population to include those who would otherwise have not have been able to afford medical school.
For current fourth-year students, the gift will go into effect immediately, with each student receiving a reimbursement for the spring semester. All other students will cease paying tuition starting in August.