The namesake of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA has donated $100 million to establish a new scholarship fund for UCLA medical students, the university announced today.
The donation makes David Geffen, an entertainment executive, the largest individual donor to UCLA and to any other University of California campus, according to a UCLA statement.
The new fund will offer merit-based scholarships for up to 33 medical students who will enroll the David Geffen School of Medicine starting next year. The fund will give four years of financial support, covering the cost of tuition, housing, books and supplies, according to the statement.
“The cost of a world-class medical education should not deter our future innovators, doctors and scientists from the path they hope to pursue,” Geffen said in the statement. “We need the students at this world-class institution to be driven by determination and the desire to do their best work and not by the fear of crushing debt.”
The university renamed the UCLA School of Medicine after Geffen gave an “unrestricted” $200 million donation to the medical school in 2002, which at the time was the largest donation to the UC in its history, according to Daily Bruin archives.
Compiled by Naheed Rajwani and Erin Donnelly, Bruin senior staff.