For more than 50 years, Stony Brook Medicine has been a pillar in the community, helping patients, saving lives and conducting cutting-edge research to change the future. But Stony Brook Medicine would not be where it is today without its talented and devoted faculty and staff. Many of them have seen the impact that philanthropy has had on the hospital and its residents over the years, and they feel compelled to give back to Stony Brook Medicine through endowments, scholarships and planned gifts to support students and the future.
SB Matters profiles four SBM physicians — Mary Truhlar, MS, DDS ’84; Lester Kallus, MD; William Wertheim, MBA, MD; and Bill Lawson, MD — who have contributed a combined $2.7 million to various areas of Stony Brook Medicine, from the dental school to the emergency room. Collectively, they have dedicated a combined 150 years of their lives to Stony Brook Medicine, and they are now linking their legacy and leaving their treasure to make an even greater impact.
“It’s incredibly satisfying to know that a contribution I’ve made will help enable a student to go to the Renaissance School of Medicine,” said Wertheim.
The four faculty members agree that, while they are linking their legacy to Stony Brook, their gifts are about the students and the future of Stony Brook Medicine, not themselves. “For us, it was about creating opportunities for dental students and hopefully inspiring others to do the same,” Truhlar said.
Kallus echoes that sentiment: “This is not for me; it is to pay back Stony Brook for everything it has done for me.”
Read the full feature, complete with video profiles, at SB Matters.