Oct. 6, 2005

MCV Foundation hosts first scholarship recognition event

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By Malorie Burkett

Fourth-year medical student Ashley Hall and Dr. Jerome Strauss, dean of the VCU School of Medicine, both spoke to the guests about the importance of scholarships.
Fourth-year medical student Ashley Hall and Dr. Jerome Strauss, dean of the VCU School of Medicine, both spoke to the guests about the importance of scholarships.

With the Campaign for VCU — the university's estimable fundraising campaign — in full swing and the ongoing effort to raise scholarship funds, the Medical College of Virginia Foundation recently hosted the first-ever MCV Campus-wide scholarship recognition event — a brunch that honored the benefactors of endowed scholarships from all the MCV Campus schools as well as the students who benefit from those funds.

Held at the Richmond Marriott, the event included guests such as MCV Campus deans Jerome Strauss, M.D., of the School of Medicine; Ronald J. Hunt, D.D.S., of the School of Dentistry; Cecil B. Drain, M.D., of the School of Allied Health Professions; and Victor A. Yanchick, Ph.D., of the School of Pharmacy. Also in attendance were Jim and Charlotte Roberts, co-chairs of the Campaign for VCU.

From left: Henry Addington, a 1951 alumnus from the School of Pharmacy who established a scholarship in the school, speaks with Dr. Victor Yanchick, dean of the School of Pharmacy.
From left: Henry Addington, a 1951 alumnus from the School of Pharmacy who established a scholarship in the school, speaks with Dr. Victor Yanchick, dean of the School of Pharmacy.

Mickey Dowdy, executive director of the MCV Foundation, served as master of ceremonies, while featured speakers included George Burke, president of the MCV Alumni Association, and Ashley Hall, School of Medicine student and scholarship recipient.

MCV Campus scholarship facts from the MCV Foundation:

• There are 137 active scholarship funds on the MCV Campus.

• Those funds last year generated more than $1 million in scholarships for MCV Campus students.

• The campus' oldest scholarship, the Hoak Scholarship, was bequeathed in 1962 by Dr. Warren H. Hoak, a medical school alumnus from 1915, in memory of his parents and sister. It is awarded each year to a medical student based on academic merit and financial need. 

James Roberts (center), trustee with the Theresa Thomas Foundation, with two of the students who hold scholarships that were made possible through the foundation's generosity: Tony Tuan Nguyen (left) and Mychal Anderson Thomas, both second-year medical students.
James Roberts (center), trustee with the Theresa Thomas Foundation, with two of the students who hold scholarships that were made possible through the foundation's generosity: Tony Tuan Nguyen (left) and Mychal Anderson Thomas, both second-year medical students.

• The newest scholarship to be established is the Frank S. Trani Memorial School of Medicine Scholarship Fund, which was established this year in memory of VCU President Eugene P. Trani's late brother. The principal of the scholarship endowment is still being built, but when fully endowed, the scholarship will be awarded to a meritorious medical student with an interest in the field of psychiatry.