‘REVOLUTIONARY’: Jewish philanthropist donates $1 billion to cover medical students’ tuition

‘This donation radically revolutionizes our ability to continue attracting students who are committed to our mission, not just those who can afford it.’

By JNS and World Israel News staff

Dr. Ruth Gottesman has donated $1 billion to The Bronx’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine to fund tuition-free education for students at the school for an indefinite period.

Dr. Gottesman, a ninety-three-year-old emerita faculty member of the school, committed $1 billion to attract students who may not otherwise be able to afford to attend medical school and will eliminate student debt.

The dean of Einstein, Dr. Yaron Tomer, said in the statement, “This donation radically revolutionizes our ability to continue attracting students who are committed to our mission, not just those who can afford it.”

He continued, “Additionally, it will free up and lift our students, enabling them to pursue projects and ideas that might otherwise be prohibitive.”

Dr. Gottesman has been connected with the institution for decades beginning in 1968 when she began her work at the Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center where she developed screening and treatment procedures for children.

In 1992, she founded the Adult Literacy Program and currently sits on the Board of Trustees at Albert Einstein College.

Her late husband David Gottesman attended Harvard Business School with legendary investor Warren Buffett and was an early investor in Buffett’s signature firm Berkshire Hathaway.

In 2020 Forbes estimated the Gottesmans’ wealth at $3 billion.

The Gottesman Fund has donated more than $24 million to various institutions, many of them Jewish-affiliated.

Until the $1 billion donation to Albert Einstein Medical school, the largest donation made by the Gottesman Fund was $8.4 million to the P.E.F. Israel Endowment Fund which funds charities in Israel.

The Albert Einstein College of Medicine was founded by Yeshiva University in 1955 at a time when many Jews were turned away from medical schools because of restrictive quotas.

Rabbi Ari Berman, President of Yeshiva University called the donation “monumental.”

He said, “We congratulate the Gottesman family for their visionary leadership in significantly advancing Einstein’s founding mission to expand access for all students to top tier medical education.”