Donor Stories

We thank all our donors of planned gifts for their generous support. Here are some of their stories.

  • Type of Gift(s)Retirement Plan

    Aside from each other and family, Drs. Art and Carolyn Asbury are committed to three things: neurology, philanthropy and Penn. They designed a gift that earmarks the bulk of their residual TIAA-CREF plans for the establishment of the Asbury Professorship in Neurology.
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  • Type of Gift(s)Charitable Gift Annuity

    Physicians in Penn’s Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine really get to know their patients, perhaps more than in any other field of medicine. This special intimacy isn’t just a hallmark; it’s a prized value. In her philanthropic activities, Marjorie A. Bowman, M.D., M.P.A., the department chair, has extended that principle — determining needs and meeting them — to support Penn.
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    Type of Gift(s)Real Estate

    Frixos C. Charalampous, M.D., grew up in a rural village on the island of Cyprus, off the coast of Greece. “My father wanted me to follow him into the import/export business, to raise a family in Cyprus, to live his life,” he recalled. But Charalampous had another future in mind: to become a doctor.
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  • Type of Gift(s)Bequest

    The estate of Catharine Ducker made a $1.2 million bequest to support the research efforts of Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center. Ms. Ducker made the bequest in honor of her parents, J. Ralph Custer and Sadie Egolf Custer. Ms. Ducker was interested in advancing cancer research and chose the Abramson Cancer Center based on its distinguished national reputation. Her generous legacy will provide crucial funding for innovative and lifesaving cancer therapies.
  • Type of Gift(s)Bequest

    Stanton P. Fischer, M.D., Medical Class of 1956, had great respect for the School of Medicine long before he ever set foot on campus. His father, an ophthalmologist, took a graduate course at the School of Medicine and came away deeply impressed with Penn’s method of teaching. Dr. Fischer recalls that his father admired Penn’s focus on “learning how to think for yourself and not memorizing arbitrary facts.” Dr. Fischer knew he wanted to attend the school his father raved about, and after enrolling in 1952, discovered the same enriching, mind-expanding environment. 
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  • Type of Gift(s)Charitable Remainder Trust

    Louis B. Flexner, M.D., former chair of Penn’s Department of Anatomy, became a world leader in the study of memory. He never forgot the generosity that allowed him to pursue a career in medicine. Arthur K. Asbury, a longtime friend and an emeritus professor of neurology, says of Flexner, “He was interested in helping just as he’d been helped.”
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  • Type of Gift(s)Deferred Charitable Gift Annuity

    When Marc B. Garnick, M.D., G.M.E., meets with other School of Medicine alumni, their conversations inevitably revolve around their early days at Penn. The memories vary, but the theme is usually the same. ​​​​​​​“Every single one of us,” he says, “had a memorable and positive experience, especially due to the camaraderie of fellow classmates and Penn’s excellent and committed faculty.”
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    Type of Gift(s)Charitable Gift Annuity

    Starting with his first days as a Penn medical student in the fall of 1964 and throughout his professional career, David B.P. Goodman, M.D., Ph.D., has called Penn his home. “I’ve been here a long time and I’m loyal to Penn,” says the professor of pathology and laboratory medicine. “It’s a great place.”
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    Type of Gift(s)Bequest

    Drs. David and Kathy Guarnieri, both anesthesiologists, have always placed great value on education. Although they earned medical degrees from different schools, they agree that the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine prepared David extremely well. “I would not be where I am without my degree from the School of Medicine,” says David, a member of the Medical Class of 1984. “It was a basis, a wonderful beginning for my profession. And even though she did not attend, Kathy has a great appreciation for the School as well.”
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    Type of Gift(s)Charitable Gift Annuity

    When it came time to choose a career, the young W. Benson Harer Jr. was sure of one thing: he did not want to go into medicine. He figured his father, W. Benson Harer Sr., C’17, M’21, a renowned Penn obstetrician and former president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, would be a hard act to follow. 
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  • Type of Gift(s)Retirement Plan

    From Arizona to Africa, Avery Harrington, M.D., Medical Class of 1956, and Carolyn Beckenbaugh Harrington, C.W.’52 , have given generously of their time and resources during their 53 years of marriage. The University of Pennsylvania instilled in them many of their ideas and shared values, including a commitment to hard work, volunteerism and philanthropy.
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  • Type of Gift(s)Charitable Remainder Unitrust

    Each time Benjamin Natelson, M.D., Medical Class of 1967, walked into the library of the School of Medicine, in what is now called the John Morgan Building, and saw the famous Thomas Eakins painting “The Agnew Clinic,” he knew he was somewhere special. “I felt pampered as a student,” he says. “The quality of the education, the professors, everything at the School was just brilliant.”
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  • Type of Gift(s)Charitable Gift Annuity, IRA

    When Arthur Peck, M.D., Medical Class of 1952, applied to medical schools in 1948, he received 39 rejections and one acceptance. Initially, he was puzzled — his academic record was “unimpeachable,” and he was active in many extracurricular activities. He suspected that the rejections were based not on his career as a student, but on the fact that he was a Jew. In that era, he explains, most American medical schools limited their student bodies to 10 percent racial or religious minorities. Penn was the rare exception.
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  • Type of Gift(s)Charitable Gift Annuity

    When Charles W. Rohrbeck, M.D., Medical Class of 1958, first set foot on the Penn campus more than 50 years ago, he was awestruck. He could not believe his dream of going to medical school had come true. Fifty years later, while attending Medical Alumni Weekend for his class reunion, that sense of awe was ever present. “I marveled at the new buildings going up and the new realms of research that are being developed,” he says. “The School of Medicine is truly the epicenter of learning and I am so proud to be an alumnus.”
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  • Type of Gift(s)Charitable Gift Annuity, Bequest

    Thirty years ago, Penn legend Jonathan E. Rhoads, M.D., G.M.E.’40, gave Charlotte Snyder a gift unlike any other — six more years with her husband, Arnold. Inspired by the eminent surgeon’s expertise and friendship, Mrs. Snyder created two charitable gift annuities and established a bequest supporting the Jonathan E. Rhoads Endowed Professorship in Surgery. “Arnold and I talked it over and we knew that giving to this professorship was the ideal way to show our gratitude,” she recalls. “I know my gift is not only a way to honor Dr. Rhoads, it is a way to honor Arnold.”
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  • Type of Gift(s)Life Insurance

    Douglas Spencer, M.D., Medical Class of 1957, and his wife, Janet, decided on an unusual way to donate to his class’s scholarship fund. Dr. Spencer, who enjoyed a distinguished career as a developmental pediatrician, retired from the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in 1992. Mrs. Spencer was a medical secretary at HUP while they lived in West Philadelphia, and later enjoyed a career as an interior designer. The Spencers wanted to show their gratitude to the School and to celebrate Dr. Spencer’s 50th Reunion. “My medical school years at Penn provided the solid base for the entire rest of my career,” says Dr. Spencer.
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  • Type of Gift(s)Life Insurance

    Jerome Staller was always an innovator. An accomplished businessman with a doctorate in economics, he founded the Center for Forensic Economic Studies, one of the first consulting firms in the United States to focus on the analysis of damages and liability in civil litigation. He continued to break new ground in forensic economics and then as a best-selling author. When Mr. Staller needed treatment for a heart condition, he chose another innovator — Michael A. Acker, M.D., Penn’s chief of cardiovascular surgery and one of the nation’s top heart surgeons.
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  • Type of Gift(s)Charitable Remainder Unitrust

    Gordon W. Webster, M.D., remembers something his parents said during a discussion about his medical school tuition: “It will be hard,” they said, “but we will find a way.”
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    Type of Gift(s)Charitable Remainder Unitrust

    During his undergraduate years at Penn, Ferdinand G. Weisbrod, M.D., G.M., remembers reading about the life of the industrialist/philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. He never forgot Carnegie’s personal philosophy about wealth: Give money to your children but “don’t overdo it — too much money can make them soft and nonproductive.” Instead, Carnegie advised, leave most of your wealth to philanthropy.
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