.png)
The Albert Einstein College of Medicine announced it received a $1B donation from 93-year-old former professor Dr. Ruth Gottesman. The gift, which will provide free education in perpetuity for all 737 medical students at the school, is believed to be the largest to any medical school in US history.
Annual tuition at Einstein is over $59K per year, with almost half of students owing more than $200K upon graduation. The school is in the Bronx in New York City, one of the poorest boroughs in the city but also one of the most diverse (see demographics). Spring 2024 semester tuition for current fourth-year students will be reimbursed and free tuition will be provided for all students starting in August.
Gottesman and her late husband David—an early investor in Berkshire Hathaway and founder of investment firm First Manhattan—have made multiple charitable contributions, donating an estimated $330M. One condition of the Einstein donation is that the medical school retain its name; Albert Einstein agreed to his name being used in 1953.