May 31, 2024 – A $2.3 million bequest from the late Stanley P. Bohrer, MD ’58, MPH ’75—one of the largest estate gifts ever made to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health—will provide vital assistance for students at the School. The Stanley Bohrer Endowed Fellowship Fund will support two incoming Harvard Chan students per year, in perpetuity.
Bohrer spent his life and career supporting health and the health care system—as a radiologist, professor, and public health leader working in settings across the globe. He passed away in September 2022.
The gift aligns with Bohrer’s commitment to supporting global health and educating future generations of health care professionals. He spent 14 years as professor and head of the radiology department at University College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria. He later worked with Project HOPE in Guatemala, Jamaica, and Grenada; served as a professor of radiology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine; and spent time teaching at hospitals in Pakistan, India, and Ecuador.
Traveling brought Bohrer valuable perspective on his priorities, influencing his decision to make a gift through his estate to the Harvard Chan School.
“As I gained the wisdom of maturity, I realized that success is being content with life as it is,” Bohrer said when notifying Harvard Chan School of his intended gift more than a decade ago. “These days I don’t need more, more, more things—and that is why I am giving this bequest so that others can benefit from what this School demonstrates—a true global education in public health.”
Bohrer’s bequest will provide financial assistance for prospective students who are interested in growing their skills but are wary of the expense; over the past three years, more than 80% of accepted students who chose not to attend Harvard Chan School cited cost as a reason.
Thanks to the generous gift from Bohrer, 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 S.Y. Lam Museum of Anthropology at Wake Forest University, Stanley P. Bohrer Collection; Courtesy of Stanley Bohrer