$28 Million Gift Lays Foundation for a Debt-Free Future for Florida Atlantic Medical Students

Doctors often say they are called to work in medicine. Now, more of them will be able to answer that call as a result of a transformative gift from Ann and John Wood and their FairfaxWood Scholarship Foundation to Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine.

The Wood family’s $28 million estate pledge is the largest scholarship gift in Florida Atlantic’s history and the largest known scholarship gift to a Florida public university’s medical school.

“It is a calling to help and heal. With this gift, Ann and I want future doctors, regardless of their socioeconomic status, to follow their hearts in deciding what they want to study and practice,” John said. “Our hope is this gift will inspire others to help these students complete their medical education debt-free. The world needs doctors without debt.”

This extraordinary gift in memory of their son, Robert A. Wood, will create the opportunity one day to provide debt-free tuition for aspiring physicians. It is also their hope that others will be inspired to join in and grow the gift to cover the tuition of every Florida Atlantic medical school student.

The current cost of in-state tuition and fees per medical student for one year is $35,000, which amounts to $140,000 for four years. Students from outside of Florida also may participate and could receive support at the in-state tuition rate.

“This generosity also will help Florida Atlantic make great strides in its ongoing work to alleviate the state and national shortage of healthcare professionals,” said Julie Pilitsis, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., Dean of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine and Vice President for Medical Affairs.

Florida faces a projected shortage of nearly 18,000 physicians by the year 2035, according to a recent report by the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida and the Florida Hospital Association.

To learn how you can create a scholarship in honor of a loved one or to leave a legacy at Florida Atlantic, contact Kristina Gregg, CFRE at 561-297-2058 or k.gregg@fau.edu.