Florida Atlantic University announces $3M gift to endow medical student scholarships

Florida Atlantic University's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine has announced a $3 million gift to endow medical student scholarships. The endowment will be named the "Dr. Morton and Cynthia Levitt Endowed Scholarship for Medical Education," and the announcement was made during the Schmidt College of Medicine's inaugural "Your Medical School" celebration honoring Dick and Barbara Schmidt.

"This historic gift by an FAU faculty member Dr. Morton Levitt and his wife Cindy will help us continue to recruit and educate the best and brightest men and women who will become our future doctors," said FAU President Mary Jane Saunders. "We are truly grateful for their generosity, vision and leadership."

Morton Levitt, M.D., chair of FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine's Integrated Medical Science Department and professor of Clinical Biomedical Science is a board-certified pathologist whose impressive background includes serving in the National Cancer Institute's Carcinogenesis Bioassay Testing Program, serving as a hospital executive and chief medical officer as well as spending more than 20 years in the United States Air Force. He is recognized nationally for his expertise in medical and pathology education, advocacy, and medical policy and governance.

"I am both humbled and blessed to stand before you this evening and bring to fruition what has been a lifelong dream to me," said Levitt. "I am very proud to be a member of the Levitt Family — a family that taught me from an early age that charity, philanthropy, and service were the true measure of a person's success. This gift was made possible because of the philanthropic and charitable vision of my father and mother and their families before them."

The Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine's sold-out inaugural event was held on January 5 at The Royal Palm Yacht Club to benefit the medical school's "Compassionate Care through Education" Medical Scholarship Campaign.

"The financial pressures of medical school debt can weigh heavily on a young doctor's career decisions as well as their idealism," said David J. Bjorkman, M.D., M.S.P.H, dean of FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. "Dr. Levitt's greatest passion is teaching and both he and Cindy are dedicated to the medical profession and to medical education. Their very generous endowment will continue in perpetuity to enable our students to pursue their dreams and goals."

Source: Florida Atlantic University