Grateful Surgeon And Alumna Gives Scholarship Gift To UB’s School Of Medicine And Biomedical Sciences

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- University at Buffalo alumna Adele M. Gottschalk, M.D. '67, has given a $225,000 gift to support scholarships for students in UB's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

For Gottschalk, it was a simple decision. "I am grateful for the educational opportunities that I had and for the whole system that allowed me to take advantage of them," she said. "I wanted to help others who need similar assistance."

John R. Wright, M.D, dean of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, praised her generosity, noting: "Scholarship gifts such as the one from Dr. Gottschalk are a uniquely appropriate way to enhance student opportunities within the medical school while strengthening its economic diversity -- it's a winning proposition for all involved."

The Adele M. Gottschalk Scholarship Endowment Fund will provide a renewable tuition scholarship for at least one student in each incoming freshman class "who demonstrates need and is morally fit." The size of the scholarship amount will be between 25 percent and 100 percent of tuition, as determined by the dean and the dollars available to be spent from the account.

Gottschalk, who grew up in New York City, said her father died when she was 11 and her mother told her: "If you want an education, you will have to pay for it." Gottschalk said she worked hard to earn her education during a period when state schools awarded scholarships based on merit and need through the Governor Rockefeller Scholarship Incentive Award program.

She completed her undergraduate degree at City University of New York in Queens and came to Buffalo for medical school.

Gottschalk continued to earn scholarships that covered virtually all of her tuition for medical school, with loans and summer jobs covering the costs of books and room and board. While nearly half her classmates came from New York City, Gottschalk said she remembered being one of only six women among the 96 medical-school students who graduated in 1967.

After residency training, Gottschalk became a general surgeon with Southern California Permanente Medical Group at Kaiser Hospital Harbor City. She lives in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

For information on how you can support the University at Buffalo, go to http://www.buffalo.edu/giving.