Rowan-Virtua SOM dedicates classroom to beloved educator Dr. Anthony DiPasquale

On Tuesday, March 24, faculty, alumni, students and family gathered inside the Rowan Medicine Building on the Stratford Campus to honor and formally dedicate a classroom to the memory of Dr. Anthony DiPasquale.

Known affectionately as “Dr. D,” he was the founding program director of the Emergency Medicine Residency and trained more than 200 residents over the course of his career, leaving a lasting imprint on emergency medicine both regionally and beyond. The newly dedicated classroom—where he once taught—stands as a testament to his enduring legacy.

“This is more than a dedication—it is a reflection of our mission and what it means to be an osteopathic physician,” said Virtua Health College of Medicine & Life Sciences Vice Chancellor Richard Jermyn. “We are called to see beyond symptoms and care for the whole person with compassion, purpose, and humility. Dr. DiPasquale embodied that calling every day as an emergency medicine physician, serving on the front lines and never losing sight of the humanity in every patient, especially the most vulnerable.”

The dedication was made possible through a grassroots fundraising effort led by DiPasquale’s former students, colleagues and friends. What began as a scholarship initiative grew into a broader tribute: the establishment of the Anthony DiPasquale, DO Endowed Scholarship and the naming of a classroom filled with shared memories of his teaching.

Karen Greenberg, DO ’03, who first approached the medical school with the idea, worked alongside fellow alumni and faculty—including Dr. James George, Dr. Victor Scali, Dr. Alan Lucerna and Dr. James Baird—to bring the vision to life. Many had trained under DiPasquale and later became leaders in emergency medicine themselves.

“The fact that this room is packed with people whose lives were touched by Dr. DiPasquale tells you everything you need to know about the kind of mentor and leader that he was,” said Greenberg.

They chose the room (Classroom 3000) with intention. On Wednesday mornings, the space once served as a hub for training future emergency physicians under DiPasquale’s guidance—a place where clinical skills were sharpened and lifelong mentorships were formed.

Speakers throughout the event reflected on his unique ability to balance clinical excellence with humor and humanity. He was known not only for his leadership in academic medicine, but for fostering a culture of support and camaraderie among residents. Rowan University Chancellor Tony Lowman, who attended the event, said he was deeply moved by how clearly the program highlighted the profound and lasting impact DiPasquale had on his students.

A plaque unveiled outside the classroom captures that spirit, describing a physician admired for his “humanity, patience, compassion, and unwavering dedication to teaching,” and one who embodied the credo: “See one, do one, teach one.”

For his widow, Donna DiPasquale, the ceremony was both moving and revealing.

Hearing stories from former students and colleagues offered a powerful reminder of the lives her husband touched—many of them in ways she was still discovering. The outpouring of gratitude and shared memories underscored the breadth of his influence as both a physician and mentor.

Though DiPasquale passed away before seeing the full realization of the tribute, organizers noted that the fundraising effort began during his lifetime—an intentional decision to ensure he understood the depth of appreciation from those he trained and inspired.

Today, that appreciation lives on in the physicians he mentored and in the students who will now learn in a space bearing his name.

As future emergency medicine residents take their seats in the Dr. Anthony DiPasquale Academic Classroom, they will do so in the presence of a legacy defined not only by clinical skill, but by compassion, humility and a commitment to teaching others.