Medical Center Chief Endows Chair, Scholarships With $2 Million Gift

3-20-98
Hershey, Pa. -- A faculty chair in medical education and a student scholarship fund will be established in Penn State's College of Medicine through a commitment of $2 million from C. McCollister Evarts, senior vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine, and his wife, Nancy.

The Dr. C. McCollister and Nancy L. Evarts Chair in Medical Education, endowed with $1.5 million of the total gift, will support the work of a distinguished faculty member. The student scholarship fund, endowed with $500,000, will be awarded to academically talented and financially needy medical and graduate students in the College of Medicine at Penn State's Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

"The chair and scholarship fund combine for the largest gift ever to the University from one of its senior administrators," said Penn State President Graham B. Spanier. "We congratulate Mac and Nancy for setting such a wonderful example of support for the important work of the College. Their generosity is truly a landmark in the tradition of giving back to the College by its faculty and staff."

Spanier noted that the Evartses had targeted their gift to two of the College of Medicine's most critical needs-recruiting and retaining more world-class scholars for its faculty ranks and alleviating the high cost of medical education for more of its best students in financial need.

"Increasing the resources available for long-term growth in the College's instructional programs is a top priority," added Spanier, "considering that it receives applications from an estimated one out of every six students seeking admission to America's medical schools."

In 1997, nearly 7,000 applications were received for 110 student openings in the College.

Income from the endowment for the Evarts Chair could be used to help the holder develop educational programs for medical students, residents and faculty; refine research methods associated with medical education; and purchase materials and resources to further his or her contributions to teaching, research and public service.

C. McCollister Evarts is also president and chief academic officer of the Penn State Geisinger Health System, a professor of orthopaedics and a member of the College of Medicine campaign committee for Penn State's forthcoming capital campaign. He was elected to senior membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors in the field of medicine, in 1997.

"The centrality of medical education and the medical student to a college of medicine is well recognized and self evident," said Evarts. "We felt that it was critical for the future of the College to help support students as well as the activities of a key educational leader."

Before joining Hershey Medical Center in 1986, he was professor and chair of orthopaedics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, from which he earned his medical degree, and vice president for development at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He has also chaired the departments of orthopaedic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and served as a medical officer in the U.S. Navy.

Evarts serves on numerous boards, including those for the Milton Hershey School, the Capital Region Economic Development Corporation and the Association of Academic Health Centers. He is a past chair of the Association of Academic Health Centers, and a past president of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Orthopaedic Association and the Association of Academic Orthopaedics.

Nancy Evarts is a 1954 graduate of the University of Rochester School of Nursing. She has served on the Hershey Museum Board, and is a member of the League of Women Voters and the Association of Faculty and Friends.

"Mac and Nancy are leaders in the University and Hershey communities in so many ways, and we couldn't have asked for a more inspirational leadership gift for the College of Medicine's portion of the capital campaign," said Penn State alumnus Edward R. Hintz, volunteer chair of the University's capital campaign. "They have ably risen to the campaign's challenge to ensure long-term support for Penn State academic programs, and are helping to provide a solid foundation for our ultimate success."

In the past, the Evartses have also donated funds for construction of the Biomedical Research Building and chapel, and to the George T. Harrell Society, among other Medical Center programs.

*gwc*