x

Politics

Dr. & Mrs. P. Roy Vagelos Donate $250 Million to Columbia Medical School

December 5, 2017

NEW YORK – Greek-American Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, 88, the former chairman of Merck & Co., and his wife, Diana, are donating $250 million to the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, one of the top medical schools and also among the most expensive in the country.

$150 million of the amount will fund an endowment that the school projects will ultimately enable it to underwrite its student financial aid, The New York Times reported.

Tuition at the school for one year is $59,364. Add in fees and living expenses, and the total is about $90,000 per year for four years. But “while some medical students now take on crippling debt to attend, a new endowment funded by one of the school’s most successful alumni is intended to eliminate the need for student loans for all of its future medical students, the school announced Monday night”, NYT says.

With the gift, which is in addition to some $60 million already donated by the couple, the medical school will be officially renamed the Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the president of Columbia, Lee C. Bollinger, announced on Monday evening.

Dr. P. Roy Vagelos and Diana Vagelos have a simple philosophy that governs their philanthropic generosity,the pure notion of “giving back,” The National Herald reported last year.

“We spontaneously without any plans decided that our contributions will be to those organizations that supported us – the University of Pennsylvania, Barnard College, and Columbia University,” Dr. Vagelos has said to TNH and in that sense, without having been conscious of it, he did what his parents did by supporting the school in his father’s home town of Erisos in Mytilene.

Vagelos expressed at the time the deep pride in the Hellenes around the world who are top scientists in all fields. “The sad thing is they all leave Greece,” he said. “There are two reasons for that, a lack of support, and second, the system is not entirely straightforward. It’s very hard for someone to succeed on the basis of performance. It’s infested with nepotism. Greek-Americans and Greek immigrants who come to America for training are not welcome…they are threatening.”

Dr. Vagelos is both a business leader and a leading scientist, attracting researchers to Merck who developed major new drugs, and writing more than 100 scientific papers.

The one commercial relationship Vagelos continues is with the top biotech company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, where he is Chairman of the Board. He said of its Chief Scientific officer George Yancopoulos, “He is quite a genius at what he does. He’s a wonderful scientist and human being and we have been working together since I have retired from Merck. I am very close him and the CEO, Lenard Schleifer, and I Iike working with the two of them. They are on their way to becoming a significant biomedical institution.”

RELATED

HIMARE - Elected mayor of Himare Fredi Beleri, who remains jailed on remand in a Durres prison since May, said in an interview with SKAI radio on Tuesday that "the rule of law does not function in Albania".

Top Stories

Columnists

A pregnant woman was driving in the HOV lane near Dallas.

General News

FALMOUTH, MA – The police in Falmouth have identified the victim in an accident involving a car plunging into the ocean on February 20, NBC10 Boston reported.

Video

Rep. George Santos is Facing a Vote on His Expulsion from Congress as Lawmakers Weigh Accusations

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. George Santos of New York is facing a critical vote to expel him from the House on Friday as lawmakers weigh whether his actions, fabrications and alleged lawbreaking warrant the chamber's most severe punishment.

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — After a record-breaking start as Tottenham manager, Ange Postecoglou is experiencing the other side to life in a job that has proved too much for some of the biggest names in soccer.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted on Friday to expel Republican Rep.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, an unwavering voice of moderate conservatism and the first woman to serve on the nation’s highest court, died Friday.

He wasn’t the first one to think about it but a humor columnist for POLITICO suggested - ironically, of course - that if Greeks want back the stolen Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum that they should just steal them back, old boy.

Enter your email address to subscribe

Provide your email address to subscribe. For e.g. [email protected]

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in our newsletter.