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Historic Legacy Will Provide Financial Aid | News
May 31, 2024 – A $2.3 million bequest from the late Stanley P. Bohrer, MD ’58, MPH ’75 – one of the largest estates ever bequeathed to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health – will provide vital assistance to School students. The Stanley Bohrer Endowed Fellowship Fund will support two new Harvard Chan students per year, in perpetuity.
Bohrer has spent his life and career supporting healthcare and the healthcare system — as a radiologist, professor, and public health leader working in settings around the world. He passed away in September 2022.
The donation aligns with Bohrer’s commitment to supporting global health and educating future generations of healthcare professionals. He spent 14 years as a professor and head of the radiology department at the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria. He later worked with Project HOPE in Guatemala, Jamaica, and Grenada; served as professor of radiology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine; and spent time teaching in hospitals in Pakistan, India, and Ecuador.
Traveling gave Bohrer valuable perspective on his priorities, influencing his decision to leave his estate to the Harvard Chan School.
Stanley Bohrer
“As I gained the wisdom of maturity, I realized that success is being content with life as it is,” Bohrer said when notifying the Harvard Chan School of the intended gift more than a decade ago. “These days I don’t need more, more, more things – and that’s why I’m leaving this legacy so that others can benefit from what this School demonstrates – a true global education in public health.”
Bohrer’s legacy will provide financial assistance to prospective students who are interested in developing their skills but who are cautious about expenses; over the past three years, more than 80% of accepted students who chose not to attend Harvard Chan School cited cost as their reason.
Thanks to Bohrer’s generous donation, his legacy will live on, carried forward by students who share his commitment to promoting health across borders.
Read a 2015 interview with Bohrer.
Photos: Courtesy of Timothy SY Lam Wake Forest University Museum of Anthropology, Stanley P. Bohrer Collection; Courtesy of Stanley Bohrer