Forever influenced by Rochester’s distinctive approach to medical education, Anne Moore continues the legacy by supporting scholarships for future doctors.

Anne Moore ’70, ’74M (MD)

For Anne Moore ’70, ’74M (MD), being a physician has often meant figuring out difficult problems. Her Ģ����ý education helped instill a determination to get to the bottom of those questions that arise when caring for a patient. Faced with a medical challenge, Moore would go to all the resources she could to figure it out. She says, “I approach my work with a curiosity, asking myself, ‘What’s going on here, and can I fix it?’” Throughout her career, that process has been very rewarding.

Moore believes the Ģ����ý’s distinctive approach to medical education shaped who she is as a physician. Rochester’s biopsychosocial model is patient-centered and puts equal emphasis on understanding the biology as well as the environmental, social, and psychological issues affecting a patient. Reflecting on her experience, Moore shares, “The education is very unique in the sense that from day one we were talking about the interaction between mental health and physical health. This has produced a special breed of the most caring physicians, who pause to notice the emotional state of their patients.”

Moore received her undergraduate degree from the Ģ����ý and stayed to attend the School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD). Her parents were teachers, and growing up, Moore thought she would follow their footsteps and teach math. When she arrived at Rochester, she chose to take many liberal arts classes alongside her math major. She saw her peers in the sciences were spending much of their time in the lab, but she knew that was not for her. She began to be interested in medicine while doing a research study about health education in schools. With the support of family, especially her father who enthusiastically urged her to follow her dreams, Moore entered medical school at SMD. Once she began her primary clerkship, Moore gravitated toward working with younger patients and went on to select pediatrics as a specialty.

Recently Moore celebrated her 50th medical school reunion. She has had a fulfilling career, working at Kaiser Permanente in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and then at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Currently, she works as a travel physician, visiting hospitals around the country. Now nearing retirement, Moore also devotes much of her time to the equestrian program at her property, Kent Hill Farm, near Denver, CO.

With so many fond memories of Rochester and feeling that the school helped to create who she is today, Moore joined the Wilson Society and established a bequest to support scholarships at SMD. Moore is eager to help other students have the same experience she did, and ultimately to ensure that future doctors value the interrelation of mind and body that she gleaned from the Ģ����ý’s biopsychosocial approach.

“It’s my honor and pleasure to participate in giving. I find it very meaningful to continue the legacy.”

Bob and Mabelle Pizzutiello have found joy and purpose in supporting collaborative programs at the URochester.

As a musician for the Eastman Performing Arts Medicine Center (EPAM), Bob Pizzutiello ’77, ’78 (MS) plays the Chapman Stick in the lobby of Strong Memorial Hospital.

“Most human beings are not monolithic,” says Bob Pizzutiello ’77, ’78 (MS), “They enjoy different perspectives.” He and his wife Mabelle Pizzutiello ’63N, P’89 support many programs at the URochester, with their interests spanning the arts, sciences, and healthcare, as well as those focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion, but the is one of the most unique.

Finding intersections between music and science comes naturally for Bob who pursued a degree in electrical engineering but also made time to study the physics of music. His education at the URochester allowed him to explore the interconnection between his broad interests. When he first came to Rochester in 1973, a teenage Bob had the impression that he would be done learning at the end of college. Instead, those years launched a lifelong career of discovery.

Bob recognizes the valuable life skills that he gained at Rochester—how to think and solve problems. As a Joseph C. Wilson Scholar, Bob had the opportunity to take any course across the University, and he made the most of it. In addition to his undergraduate workload, he took classes in the School of Medicine and Dentistry, which were foundational for him and his future work.

He credits his full scholarship for not only making it possible to pursue his education, but to find a career. At the age of 23, he completed a master’s degree, and he started his first real job at the URochester Medical Center.

Bob spent his career working in community hospitals as a medical physicist, while also bringing his learnings about physics and technology into the national discussion, as an advisor to the Food and Drug Administration. He founded and led Upstate Medical Physics, a regional practice, and was the senior vice president of Landauer Medical Physics, a national organization, collaborating with medical physicists to deliver services to individual health care facilities and larger integrated delivery networks. He is also a past president of the New York State Radiological Society.

The couple’s gift will name the new adult waiting room in the emergency department.

Kathy and Peter Landers

Rochester business leaders Peter J. Landers ’83 (MS) and Kathleen “Kathy” E. Landers ’82 have committed $1 million to support the Strong Memorial Hospital’s Expansion Project, the largest capital project in the Ģ����ý’s history. The couple’s gift will name the Landers Adult Waiting Room in the soon-to-be-expanded emergency department (ED) that will serve generations of future families.

“We are immensely grateful to the Landers for this forward-thinking gift,” says Kathy Parrinello ʼ75N, ʼ83N (MS), ʼ90W (PHD), president and CEO, Strong Memorial Hospital. “Their generosity will help us create an exceptional, nurturing space where families can find solace during life’s unexpected challenges.”

Planned for completion in 2027, the five-year-long Strong Expansion Project will increase the size of its ED more than three times and include space for psychiatric emergency care. The project will also add a cardiovascular pavilion, with floors for diagnostic and treatment services, cardiac care, and the Medical Center’s inpatient hospital. Additionally, it will feature individual rooms that allow for personal support and meet the latest requirements in patient safety and infection control. The project will ultimately that the community has faced for years.

“There is a great need for providing better access and facilities for emergency care in our community,” says . “We have witnessed first-hand the capacity constraints and backlog of patients in hallways. Making this gift now in support the new emergency tower will help alleviate this ongoing crisis and better serve the health care needs of the community.”

Adds Kathy, “Our family members have experienced the remarkable compassionate care provided by the nurses, staff, and emergency care doctors. The new expansion will provide a state-of-the art environment and resources for hospital teams to deliver that kind of exemplary care to more people, to help them recover, heal, and have better outcomes. We are pleased to be part of this expansion project and know it will transform the way emergency care is delivered.”

The Landers are long-time champions of the Rochester community. More than 30 years ago, they founded Landers Communities, a full service local real estate company that develops, owns, and manages high quality apartment communities, senior housing, and commercial space in the greater Rochester area.

Both Peter and Kathy earned degrees at the University and have generously supported the University’s James P. Wilmot Cancer Institute, Golisano Children’s Hospital, the Eastman School of Music, the Memorial Art Gallery, and Ģ����ý Athletics. Peter is a board member at the URochester Medical Center and the Memorial Art Gallery, while Kathy serves on the board of the Wilmot Cancer Institute and on the gallery’s council. They are also members of the University’s Rochester Philanthropy Council. In 2020, the University honored the Landers with the in recognition of their exemplary service.

Nicholas Wodo ’14N, ’19N (MS) is answering the call.

Nicholas Wodo ’14N, ’19N (MS)

Almost 60 years ago, the Ģ����ý School of Nursing’s founding dean Loretta Ford and pediatrician Henry Silver pioneered the nurse practitioner (NP) role. There are now more than 355,000 NPs improving the health and lives of millions of patients across the U.S.

For almost a decade, Nicholas Wodo, ’14N, ’19N (MS) has been caring for the Rochester community as a nurse at the URochester Medical Center. After earning his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at Canisius College, Wodo applied for UR Nursing’s accelerated bachelor’s in nursing program to utilize his science background in health care.

Wodo pursued his master’s in the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner specialty to make a difference in children’s lives, and to “help them grow and live the healthiest life possible.” Working in the pediatric emergency department at Golisano Children’s Hospital has helped Wodo achieve that goal.

Learn more about what drives Wodo—in his own words.

What makes you passionate about your specialty area?

I currently work in the Pediatric Emergency Department and love the wide variety and ever-changing nature of this environment. It brings a measure of uncertainty not knowing what you might see next, but this is also exhilarating. I enjoy being able to care for the most vulnerable of our population and be able to provide comfort and care to a family on one of their worst days.

How did the School of Nursing prepare you for your career goals?

My UR Nursing education gave me with the background to pursue any field of nursing I wanted to work in. It provided me the experience of doing my capstone in the Pediatric Emergency Department and additional opportunities to experience endocrine and diabetes management which is my other passion.

Tell us about a faculty member or preceptor who has shaped your educational journey.

I have had numerous people shape me into the provider I am today. As a provider, my previous colleagues Elizabeth Vaczy ’88 (MS), ’93N (MS) and Christa Ward taught me the skills of being a provider in pediatric endocrine. That said, the most influential person in my career in emergency medicine was my previous nurse manager Marcy Noble. Marcy took a chance on an inexperienced nurse who had a passion to learn pediatric emergency medicine and management and for this, I will be forever grateful.

What kind of support helped you balance work and life commitments with school?

My family and friends were a great support as I went back to school for my master’s degree. I worked weekends for four years and missed many family gatherings over the years, but everyone was so understanding that this was my passion and the career I wanted for myself.

During school, while working as a nurse, I also officiated semi-professional soccer, which helped me get outside and get much-needed exercise while still making money.

What is a day in your current role like?

In the Pediatric Emergency Department, I see a range of children. I can see a child in one room with a common cold and leave that room to see a child with new onset cancer in another. We see a huge variety of people and situations that usually bring families in on one of their worst days, and the goal when seeing each person is to provide them passionate patient and family care no matter the outcome.

How does your work as a nurse practitioner make an impact?

The work of myself and my colleagues helps to make the children of our community healthier, with the goal of living long, healthy lives.

What are some of your proudest moments as a nurse?

My proudest moments as a Nurse Practitioner are when I can settle the nervousness on a parent’s face, given the concern for their child, by caring for, reassuring, and safely discharging that child home—with a smile on their face.

Through nursing, Thaw Htoo ’23N supports Rochester refugees

Thaw Htoo ’23N

Thaw Htoo ’23N felt emotional when he visited the Children’s School of Rochester No. 15 early in the fall semester for the community health rotation of his clinical experience.

By a total coincidence, he’d been placed at his own elementary school. It holds a special place in his heart: Htoo came to the in 2008 as a refugee, having spent the first 11 years of his life at a camp on the border of Myanmar and Thailand.

After leaving Myanmar with his parents for an unknown future, Htoo recalled the Children’s School feeling like a safe haven. The school, a longtime partner of the Ģ����ý School of Nursing, is known for its robust refugee community and English-language learning support. Its student population represents nearly 40 countries and languages.

Years later, as an adult, Htoo joined two of his colleagues from the , to spend a morning delivering a presentation on healthy communication for sixth-graders, leading activities such as “emotion charades” and a question game with a multi-color beach ball focused on listening skills.

It was a perfect opportunity to give back to the community that once helped him find a sense of belonging in a brand-new country.

“It was really hard, because I remember when I first came to the United States, I did not know any English, but I was able to learn and catch up,” he recalled. “It was through hard work, dedication, and support that I got through the program.”

Nursing students have been working with the Children’s School as part of their community health clinical experiences since 2010. The relationship started when Assistant Professor Leann Patel, MSN, RN, and sixth-grade teacher Telesta Rice collaborated to create a program that helps refugee parents understand American health care systems. Eventually, the pair also noticed a need to expand the health education curriculum for students, and Patel pitched a program in which nursing students could fill the gap by teaching kids about topics such as hygiene, nutrition, and disease prevention.

Spending time in the community, in settings such as schools, senior living facilities, and prisons, helps nursing students see the day-to-day lives of the people they’ll soon be caring for, Patel said. Experiences like that of Htoo and his colleagues at the Children’s School exemplify her vision for community health clinicals brought to life.

Visits from the School of Nursing offer a window into what opportunities might be available to Children’s School students in the future, said Principal Jay Piper.

Colleagues from the accelerated bachelor’s program join Dean Lisa Kitko, Assistant Professor Leann Patel, and Thaw Htoo at the Children’s School

“The nursing students are the vision we want for our students,” he said.

Piper had vivid memories of Htoo as a student, and held onto a copy of Htoo’s 2011 class photo to show him when he visited.

A fast learner, Htoo quickly grasped the English language, and wasted no time utilizing his new language skills to help others. He translated for parents and other new students from Myanmar’s Karen community, volunteered to help younger students onto their buses at dismissal, and became one of the school’s “fuss busters”—an older student who helps the younger ones work through problems and conflicts.

“He was a real leader who would embrace the younger kids and take them under his wing,” Piper said. “Looking back, it makes sense to me that he would take the path of nursing. He’s so nurturing. It’s a great honor to see him follow that path. It was meant to be.”

Htoo would agree—but it took a while for him to realize nursing was his calling.

“I had always wanted to work in the health field, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” said Htoo, who earned his first bachelor’s degree in biology from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

He worked in labs and pharmacies and spent the past three years working as a hair transplant technician at the nearby Quatela Center for Plastic Surgery. He felt a craving to do more, and remembered wishing he could perform injections like the nurses and physicians he worked with. Htoo began to realize that nursing would offer him a way to make a meaningful impact.

Htoo discovered interests in nephrology and pediatric nursing during his time at the University Rochester, but his overall goal, however, is to pay it forward.

The City of Rochester has been helping refugees resettle since the 1980s. In the past two decades, the city has welcomed more than 8,000 refugees, including nearly 1,500 from Htoo’s home country.

Leading by his gentle, humble example, Htoo wants to show what is possible for those who resettle in Rochester.

“Even though you might not know the language, or you’re introduced to a new culture, once you are adapted to the culture, the beliefs, and everyday living, you’ll be able to learn so many new things,” he said. “If you put in the hard work, you’ll be able to move forward.”

One family’s tradition and a Rochester legacy

A family legacy continues at the URochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD). From left: Kevin J. Geary ’83M (MD), ’88M (Res), ’90M (Flw) poses with his nephew, Michael Geary ’16M (MD), and his father, Joseph Geary, at Michael’s graduation from SMD.

Deciding to pursue vascular surgery was like entering the family business for Kevin J. Geary, MD, whose father was part of a noteworthy line of surgeons who established the field in Rochester, NY. Joseph E. Geary, MD, was urged to come to Rochester by Charles Rob, MD, to practice as one of the first fellowship trained physicians in the city. Geary describes how, “back then, in 1960, there were only a couple of vascular surgery fellowship programs in the country. Dr. Rob, of course, had become a renowned pioneer in the field, after his team performed the first carotid endarterectomy in England. Rob then came to the United States to become chief of surgery at the URochester Medical Center (URMC).”

The oldest of six children, Kevin Geary was a young child when his family moved to Rochester and remembers his father making rounds at the old Park Avenue Hospital, and all of the local community hospitals, to do surgeries. When he was eight or nine years old, Geary would go along with his father on these rounds.

Geary always planned to follow his father’s footsteps as a physician. His mother was a nurse, so it felt very natural to go into the medical field, but his father encouraged him to study other subjects on the side. Growing up, the family worked on many creative projects together. Once they built a 45-ft African mahogany schooner. “It took seven years, through high school and college, and my dad taught me and my siblings all about woodworking,” Geary recalls.

Geary went to Union College and became a language major, studying abroad in France and Germany. When it was time to take the MCAT, he showed up much to the surprise of all the pre-med students who had never seen him before in their classes.

The Ģ����ý was looking for well-rounded medical students, so it was a good fit. Geary remembers the rigorous curriculum, how much emphasis there was on the biopsychosocial approach, and how he and his peers joked a bit about it, until they met George Engel, MD, and John Romano, MD, and then understood—without a doubt—how significant that model was. Looking back, Geary says, “I enjoyed the camaraderie among my classmates, and the closeness that still remained when we recently celebrated our 40^th medical school reunion.” In those years, the medical students often socialized with nursing students. That was how Geary met his wife, Holly Simpson ’83N, ’09N (MS). In spite of the demands of his training, he shares, “those were fun and hilarious times.”

Geary changed his mind repeatedly about what direction he wanted to take in medicine and recalls how supportive his advisors were. He started out with an intention to pursue ophthalmology, with James Aquavella, MD, as his mentor, but ultimately, he was drawn into surgery. When his fellow anatomy partners heard about his plans, it came as no surprise to them. From day one, working side-by-side on a cadaver, they knew he was going to be a surgeon.

After looking at residencies all over, Geary ultimately matched at Ģ����ý and started his internship in 1983. “In those days,” Geary says, “residents worked about 100 hours each week, before there were limitations on the schedules. My peers and I emerged from our surgery training, ready to set up shop on our own.”

Geary intended to go into plastic surgery. “There was a laboratory, a little room with a microscope,” he recalls, “where the plastic surgery residents learned how to do vascular surgery by practicing on parts of chickens and rat femoral arteries.” Later this became a true lab rotation. That’s when he started putting together little blood vessels, and by the end of residency he knew he was meant to go into vascular surgery instead.

At the time, all the vascular surgery fellows rotated with Geary’s father. By the third year, Geary remembers that’s when the fun really began, “When we worked together in surgery,” he says, “I would make a suggestion, ‘Dad, let’s do it this way,’ and the nurses would laugh. They had never heard anyone talk back to my father before. To me it wasn’t talking back. It was just as natural as suggesting another type of tool to use in our woodworking project.”

In addition to his father, Geary had many mentors who made an impression throughout his training. “You can get great experience from a lot of great surgeons,” Geary says, “if you take away little bits to make a whole. The more mentors you have, the better.” James DeWeese, MD—the former chair of vascular surgery who helped build the division—was one who stood out to Geary and who helped convince him to go into the field. Another was James Adams, MD. Geary remembers that an article came out at the time calling his father “the man with the golden hands,” and “Dr. Adams joked that if my father was the hand, then I must at least be one of the fingers.” From then on, Adams called him “golden thumb” or “thumb” for short.

After completing his education, Geary joined his father in practice at Vascular Surgery Associates. He is affiliated with Rochester Regional Health and also sees a lot of potential for collaboration with the URochester. “All my partners trained at Strong,” he says. “The connection goes all the way around.”

In honor of James DeWeese, Geary has supported the DeWeese Endowment. Thinking about what motivates him to contribute toward vascular surgery education at Rochester, Geary says, “the legacy of vascular surgery at the URochester is huge, and I’d like to see it remain that way.”

Dreams sparked at the URochester, combined with life-changing scholarship support, led to a fulfilling career in medicine and teaching for Alan Kozak.

When Alan James Kozak ’65, ’69M (MD), ’72M (Res), arrived at the URochester as a college student, he had never spent a day away from home. Quickly his universe expanded through friendship and the heavy demands of his coursework—balancing literature with his pre-medical studies. He recalls the late-night sounds of typewriters in response to looming deadlines and the party music that spanned from Chubby Checkers to The Beatles.

It was at a concert, listening to Maynard Ferguson on the trumpet, when an encounter with two medical students sparked Kozak’s dream of staying at Rochester to pursue his medical school education at the School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD).

At the time, Kozak imagined a future as a surgeon. However, as he graduated from SMD and completed an elective rotation, following an internist in his hometown of Binghamton, NY, he realized how much he valued face-to-face time with patients, hearing their stories and getting to know their families over time. Kozak began an internship year in internal medicine at the Mary lmogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, NY and then returned to Strong Memorial Hospital. The long hours, clinical responsibilities, and academic demands often seemed impossible, but the special camaraderie of his class and pride as “Strong’s Medicine Residents” kept him going. Kozak finished his medical training with a fellowship in infectious disease at the University of Minnesota and returned to Cooperstown to help create the Infectious Disease Division at Bassett.

Now, having completed a rewarding clinical career, Kozak continues to teach medical students as an attending physician. His interest in literature persisted well past his undergraduate years, inspiring him to provide a writing prompt to his students, which later led to the publishing of Let Me Listen to Your Heart: Writings by Medical Students. The book is a collection of essays, poems, and reflections by medical students from the Ģ����ý and from Columbia University, as they completed clinical rotations at Bassett.

Thinking back on his education, Kozak shares, “Like many of us, I entered college with no money. Thanks to a very generous Ģ����ý scholarship, and later support from the Clark Foundation, I was able to graduate from college and then medical school without a dollar of debt.”

In gratitude, Kozak now supports the Ģ����ý so that future students can have the same educational opportunities that he did. Kozak included the University in his estate planning and established two scholarships to support both undergraduate and medical education.

Kozak hopes to ease the journey for students and believes there is great importance in paying his good fortune forward.

“If I can help students realize dreams that lead to a career as fulfilling as mine has been, I will have accomplished a lot. And this will remain my legacy,” he says.

The Ģ����ý School of Nursing will always be a place Jane Tuttle calls home.

Jane Tuttle, PhD, ’79N, ’84N (MS)

In choosing a career, Jane Tuttle, PhD, ’79N, ’84N (MS) thought about how she loves people and she loves science, so nursing was the perfect fit. That’s been reinforced again and again, and she believes the Ģ����ý School of Nursing has shaped her career enormously.

Considering herself a lifelong learner, Tuttle has appreciated that a nursing education can be completed in stages and can be adapted to a distinctive path like hers. Throughout her career, she found the flexibility and support she needed at Rochester and has used that foundation to become an advocate for other nurse practitioners as they join the field.

She arrived at the school already a practicing nurse, and as an adult learner was able to complete a tailored program that maximized learning right from the beginning. After she completed her BS in 1979, she moved to Washington, DC to take a position working with Georgetown University’s community health plan, and her UR education was noted by the person who hired her as a major factor. Then, after moving back and completing her master’s as a family nurse practitioner at Rochester, she went on to take a faculty position at the Yale School of Nursing. Once again, her UR education set her apart. During her eight years in New Haven, she completed her PhD at the University of Connecticut and then returned to Rochester, this time to take a faculty position in the family nurse practitioner program, which she later directed for more than 20 years.

Tuttle shares, “What is unique about Rochester is the mentoring, the reputation, the way we work in an interdisciplinary way across the University and Medical Center. That’s not true everywhere. I enjoy the balance I’ve had with patient care, research, writing, and of course teaching. I feel very fortunate to have had a long career in teaching.”

There was already a separate division of adolescent health at the URochester, and that was a huge draw for Tuttle who studied pediatrics and chose to focus her work on adolescents when her own son was becoming a teenager. “Those years are such an important time for families, when the child is going through separation and individuation, and I consider adolescents to be underserved in health care,” she explains.

Tuttle has directed her giving toward scholarships because she has a special place in her heart for students. “As a faculty member, students are what it’s all about,” she says. “That’s why we do what we do. They need the support, especially those who don’t have family to fall back on. When I started out, I was a young single mom and didn’t have a lot of resources.” Now, Tuttle and her husband value being members of the Wilson Society, staying connected with alumni, and contributing to the future of the school.

Tuttle says, “I knew I wanted to recognize the Ģ����ý in my will in memory of my dear friend Eleanor Hall who was instrumental in founding the School of Nursing here. When she died, I became a member of the bequest society in her honor.” The society, formerly named the Eleanor Hall Bequest Society, has been incorporated into the University’s Wilson Society; however, Hall, chair of the Department of Nursing of the School of Medicine and Dentistry from 1957 to 1971, is still remembered profoundly. Tuttle often walks by the portrait of Hall at the school and feels she can hear her mentor’s voice, guiding her in her practice.

When she thinks about why other alumni should join her as a donor, Tuttle says, “we all benefited from the resources, and now we can help others take advantage of that. The Ģ����ý is always on the cutting edge. I am so proud of how highly regarded we are.”

“I feel lucky that I found nursing and that the URochester has been a real home to me over all these years,” Tuttle reflects.

Alexander A. Levitan ’63M (MD) and his wife, Lucy, have given nearly $10 million—more than any living donor—to support the medical experience of students from around the world

Lucy Levitan and Alexander A. Levitan ’63M (MD)

Inspired to make education and research experiences possible for students at the URochester’s School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD), —a retired internist and oncologist—and his wife, Lucy, have given nearly $10 million to the school. Their philanthropy makes them the largest living donors in SMD’s history who have supported the medical experience of students from around the world through scholarships and fellowships.

But for the Levitans, supporting students goes far beyond financial assistance. They offer friendship, advice, and mentorship, long after the students have earned their degrees. They save every communication sent, attend their weddings and other major life events, and even travel abroad to meet the families of the international students whose lives they’ve changed.

Just ask Akosua Korboe ’16M (MD), the inaugural recipient of the . As a student from Ghana, Korboe was ineligible for federal loans without a US citizen co-signer. Thanks to the Levitan Scholarship, she was able to pursue her dream of attending medical school. Today, she is an accomplished internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

“Without the Levitan’s support, I would not have been able to attend medical school,” says Korboe. “And although they aren’t my biological family, they feel like they are to me. “They have become family, pouring into me in countless ways, instilling values, believing in me, and always providing me with love and support. I’m forever grateful.”

Generosity brings generosity

Support from others has inspired Levitans to make education and research experiences possible for 19 students to date and many more to come. “Education has been the most valuable experience of my life,” says Al, who was a scholarship student at SMD and at Cornell University. “Without the generosity and the example of others, I never would have earned my degrees and I never would have had the life nor the career I’ve had.”

The couple started supporting SMD in 1976 with gifts to SMD’s annual fund and the Class of ’63’s reunion fund. Their specific support of students began in 2006, 43 years after Al’s graduation from medical school.That’s when they made a gift of $125,000 to establish the Levitan Scholarship. They have continued to contribute generously to that fund, growing its value and reach. In fiscal year 2023, they added an additional $5.2 million, ensuring that a Levitan Scholar graduates and joins the medical school each year, in perpetuity.

“The Levitan Family Endowed Scholarship stands out not only for its size but also for being the sole need-based full tuition and living expenses scholarship at the school, with a special focus on supporting international students,” says David Lambert, MD, senior associate dean of SMD. “These international students are not eligible for the kinds of support that US students can get and without the scholarship could not attend medical school.”

A legacy of giving and learning

The Levitans with Akosua Korboe ’16M (MD)

Al and Lucy also established the Alexander and Lucy Levitan Endowment for Medical Student Research Fellowships with a gift of $1.7 million. Because this fund exists, three medical students every year can take a year out of their four-year SMD curriculum to participate in a research program under the direction and mentorship of an established physician-scientist or basic scientist.

“Many of our alumni have shared that these experiences were career-transforming,” adds Lambert.

The family knows this from experience. Al’s father, Sacha, received financial support from the French government when he emigrated from Russia to France and attended college and medical school there. Later, Al’s family traveled the world due to his father’s work with the World Health Organization.

Al and Lucy named funds at both SMD and Cornell as ways to recognize the importance of scholarship support and international experiences and to honor Al’s father and the couple’s late daughter, Lara, who lost her battle with cancer in 2019.

“The story of Al and Lucy is one of inspiration and compassion, a testament to the power of giving and its potential to change lives,” adds Mark Taubman, MD, Ģ����ý Medical Center CEO and dean of SMD. “Their philanthropic legacy will forever resonate within the medical school, empowering future generations of students to realize their dreams and make a difference in the world of medicine and research.”

In turn, the couple gets to enrich their own lives with connections to people they view as members of their extended family.

“We are tremendously grateful for the support given to us,” says Lucy. “We have always wanted to give back in a similar way—to provide access and opportunities to talented, deserving medical students from around the world. As a result, we have met so many brilliant young people who will do great things in their lives and careers.”

Commencement Keynote Speaker Reflects on Challenges along the Way

Physician-scientist Michelle A. Albert ’94M (MD) is the first person in history to serve concurrently as president of the American Heart Association, the Association of University Cardiologists, and the Association of Black Cardiologists. She’s also the first woman of color and Black woman to be president of the AHA and AUC (where she is now past president).

To be the “first” is noteworthy, but as Albert has found, it can also mean you must find ways to thrive when you feel alone.

While humbled and grateful to be asked to deliver the commencement keynote at her alma mater, Albert’s time in medical school was no cakewalk. She recalls being one of only three Black students in her class of 90 students. Cardiology is also a field historically dominated by males, mostly white.

Luckily, she says that good mentors don’t need to be exactly like you. They just need to be able to help you visualize a future that you can’t see for yourself.

But at first, she had to visualize on her own. Albert was born and raised in Guyana, where she atnd her younger sister, Maxine, lived with their grandparents in a working-class community. Her father, Michael Albert, had received a government scholarship to study in England, where he and her mother, Carmen Albert, studied and worked to help support the family.

When Albert was 14, her grandfather collapsed from cardiac arrest. Where they lived, people didn’t know CPR or have access to a portable defibrillator. Her grandfather died that day. It was a painful way for Albert to experience the impact of socioeconomics on historically under-resourced communities. But it lit the spark that set her career into motion.

At the National Academy of Medicine, of which Albert is an elected member, with husband, Edward Brown.

Developing True Selves

Now, as a practicing clinician, researcher, and epidemiologist at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), she is in the position to mentor directly. She also serves as the dean of admissions for the UCSF School of Medicine and director of its NURTURE Center (CeNter for the StUdy of AdveRsiTy and CardiovascUlaR DiseasE).

Both roles have brought her full circle in many ways. She has chosen to recruit and retain a workforce that can address the unmet needs in health care. Part of her commitment is drawing more people of color into the field of cardiology. In 2022, Forbes magazine named her to its “50 Over 50” list for the impact she has made.

“Mentorship is a priority for me because I absolutely know that we all need mentors and sponsors to develop our true selves and have successful careers with authenticity,” said Albert. “I know the sense of isolation that I felt early on, and I don’t want to see the same thing perpetuated for others like me. Mentors allow us to stretch ourselves—because oftentimes we want to sit in the comfort zone. They help us see a different version of ourselves.”

“She Just Opens Doors”

Those who have had Albert as a mentor point to the example she sets and the remarkable level of care she offers people.

“The cardiovascular workforce lacks representation of Black physicians, especially Black women, and can be very isolating,” said Jonathan Butler, PhD, a social epidemiologist and minister at the NURTURE Center. He says watching Albert overcome many obstacles has inspired him. “I’ve never seen somebody so focused on work, no matter how many obstacles come her way.”

The School of Medicine and Dentistry class of 1994. Albert is pictured in the middle, toward the left.

Butler first met Albert when he was a postdoctoral fellow. He applied to the position after a mutual colleague suggested she would be a good fit with his research interests (social determinants of health and cardiovascular disease, to name just two). Albert, he said, embraced him with open arms.

She is more than a professional mentor; she is a trusted friend. Every major holiday or birthday, he receives a personalized gift from her, and he still has one of the first—a set of customized gold pencils.

“Frequently, we would celebrate a NURTURE team member’s birthday,” said Butler. “Michelle planned every detail, down to the seating chart; menu; and personalized, hand-wrapped gifts for each person who came.” As he put it, “That’s the caring and detail-oriented person Michelle is.”

Melissa Burroughs, MD, credits Albert with guiding her on a long and winding road. They met when Burroughs was a medical student at Harvard and on track to become a cardiologist. For big career decisions, from choosing a residency program to getting her first job at UCSF, Burroughs, who left academics five years ago to become a noninvasive cardiologist in private practice, says Albert has been a constant source of support.

Burroughs was a resident at UCSF and returned to join the cardiology faculty in 2015. At the time, she and Albert had been only the first and second Black cardiologists on faculty.

“She’s the only reason I took that job,” Burroughs said, noting that the diversity of faculty and fellows has improved since then. She credits this to Albert’s leadership and example. “She just opens doors. We all have obstacles we need to face, especially in medicine, but it’s so much better when you have a more senior person opening doors for you.”

Burroughs said she has learned from Albert how to combine rigor with creativity. The field of cardiology is based on exciting data, but the work doesn’t stop there. “I learned from her that it’s not always about the content; it’s the approach,” Burroughs said. “I think she brings all the best qualities we want in a physician and teaches them so well. All the skills she has, you can apply to whatever you do.”

One of these skills includes compassion—both for your patients and the people you work alongside. Most important, for yourself. Burroughs says the rigor of medical training has a way of beating the compassion out of you, making it easy to fall into a trap of abandoning self-care in the process. Albert provided a voice of clarity when it was needed most.

“I called her when my father died,” said Burroughs. Her advice was simple: Work is secondary. Send an email to work and book a flight home the next day. In those moments when you know what’s most important, Burroughs reflects, “Sometimes you just need someone to give you permission.”

Dr. Albert in 2022, when she was named to the Forbes “50 Over 50” list.

Why Rochester?

It’s no surprise that Albert, whose interest in social determinants of health inspired her to go into medicine, was drawn to the University’s School of Medicine and Dentistry and its biopsychosocial model, which takes a holistic approach to health and looks beyond scientific presentation. Today, her research as a physician-scientist-epidemiologist explores those very questions.

“The medical school that you attend does have a significant influence on where you go in the future— through its perspectives that help shape you as a person,” said Albert. “Rochester helped crystallize that for me over time. I’ve come to realize the impact that it has had on me. It’s a process of being divinely drawn to certain things over time, resulting in my building a career around those building blocks, and Rochester was the place where the chips started falling into place.”

Albert, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, Edward Brown, hasn’t been back in more than two decades, despite spending years in the Northeast: She was chief medical resident at Columbia University and went on to complete a master’s degree in public health at Harvard School of Public Health as well as fellowships at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she became a rising star.

She has won numerous awards and serves on national boards and committees through her affiliation with the AHA and American College of Cardiology (ACC). Her research has been featured on international media outlets, and she is an often-quoted expert on cardiovascular health, maternal health, and health equity. She is also an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in medicine.

But she never set out to land leadership positions in the nation’s most prestigious cardiology associations. Albert says she simply followed her interests and worked hard to seize opportunities that aligned with her desire to make a difference—on a large scale.

“I think, honestly, you’re defeating yourself to start with a goal of being the president of an organization,” she said. “Your goal should be about having an impact in things that are important to developing people, including the health of the population.”