Alumnus Launches Medical School Scholarship Fund with 100K gift
Alumnus Launches Medical School Scholarship Fund with 100K gift
November 25, 2009
Dr. Marque Allen was so excited to learn his alma mater is partnering with Cooper University Hospital to create a medical school that he contacted Rowan with an offer and a challenge.
The offer - a $100,000 gift - is to launch a medical school scholarship in honor of his mentor, retired Rowan Professor Richard Meagher. And the challenge, which Rowan readily accepted, was a commitment to growing that fund by seeking other donations.
Dr. Allen, a 1991 alumnus who grew up in Lindenwold and Glassboro but lives and practices in Texas, said both he and his wife, San Antonio businesswoman Yvette Allen, attended state colleges and believe in their promise of opportunity.
"We are products of state school systems and, I'm here to tell you, they work," Dr. Allen said during a campus visit November 25. "This gift is a ‘Thank You' to Dr. Meagher and the university. There must be hundreds of people like me who've gone here who now have careers in medicine thanks (in part) to Dick Meagher."
Dr. Allen, who said he was anything but a high achiever in high
school but graduated from then-Glassboro State College with a
nearly perfect grade point average, was so inspired by Dr. Meagher
that he decided the fund a scholarship in his name. Dr. Meagher
retired in 2007 after 38 years as a Rowan University biological
sciences professor.
Through the Allens' gift, the Dr. Richard Meagher Medical
Scholarship will fund one student's medical education for four
years. The inaugural class of students at Cooper Medical School of
Rowan University in Camden is expected to begin in 2012 with as
many as 50 first-year students.
Rowan University President Dr. Donald Farish said he hopes the Allens' gift will inspire others - alumni and non-alumni alike - to contribute to the scholarship fund. The goal, Dr. Farish said, is to provide scholarships to every member of the inaugural medical school class just as Rowan did with its first class of engineering students in 2000.
"Thanks to Dr. Marque Allen and his wife Yvette we are one down, 49 to go," Dr. Farish said.
He said Dr. Allen, as an undergraduate, benefited from a public institution supported by the people of New Jersey and they, in turn, now benefit from him as he helps fund a medical school in the southern part of the state.
Building on a tradition of giving
In 1992, one year after Dr. Allen graduated from Glassboro
State, industrialist Henry Rowan and his wife Betty pledged $100
million to the institution, the largest gift ever to a public
college or university until that time. That generosity inspired Dr.
Allen to give too and he hopes his gift inspires others.
"I believe there is a common misconception that large donors are
privileged and thus they can give," said Allen. "I can assure you
my story is as simple as it gets. I want the common person to
identify with me and maybe this will move him or her to pledge to
the university."
After graduating from G.S.C., Dr. Allen earned his degree in
podiatric medicine from Temple University. He completed his
internship at the University of Pennsylvania and his residency in
Foot and Ankle surgery in the Thomas Jefferson University Health
System. His formal training was completed as a fellow at the
University of Texas Health Science Center.
Today, in addition to his own practice, Dr. Allen serves as the foot and ankle consultant/team physician for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars, the AHL's San Antonio Rampage, the University of Texas-San Antonio, Trinity University, and multiple high schools throughout south Texas.
The Cooper Medical School of Rowan University will be South
Jersey's first four-year allopathic medical school and the state's
first new medical school in more than 30 years.
Rowan plans to build a $100-million medical school building in
Camden, expanding Cooper University Hospital's medical sciences
campus and serving as a new economic engine for the city.