Esteem | Prestige

University of Utah Health Sciences Center support | esteem | prestige 2005 DONOR REPORT Scholarships provide support and promote esteem and prestige. A first class learning facility enhances these benefits. The Spencer F. and Cleone P. Eccles Health Sciences Education Building is where student scholars from across the health sciences will gather to study and learn. They will also come to know each other, no matter whether they are studying medicine, nursing, pharmacy or health. They will come to understand what each does and how they can team up for best results, be it academically or with the patients they will eventually treat. The building is designed to promote that sort of interdisciplinary discourse. It is also designed following LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) guidelines, creating a healthier, more energy efficient environment. The building was financed with $33 million from the State of Utah, $7 million from Spencer F. and Cleone P. Eccles, generous gifts from the many health sciences’ At the August 31, 2005 dedication, Dr. A. Lorris Betz, Senior Vice President for Health Sciences, supporters in the community and an enthusiastic thanks and recognizes Spencer F. Eccles for his part in creating the Spencer F. and Cleone P. Eccles response from faculty, staff and administration. Health Sciences Education Building. The entire five stories are given over to accommo- dating students. All 158,000 square feet are almost exclusively classrooms, laboratories and study spaces, with a first floor bookstore and cafeteria for convenience. There is a skybridge that connects to the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library. “Swoop,” the University of Utah mascot, swooped In short, it is an environment for learning, designed down from the top of the building to congratulate and thank the Eccles. for the student, with input from the students. “This is a gift from the people of Utah to the people of Utah.” A. Lorris Betz, M.D., Ph.D. SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR HEALTH SCIENCES table of contents 2. MESSAGE FROM THE SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT A. Lorris Betz, M.D., Ph.D. 4. HIGHLIGHTED SCHOLARSHIPS Richard and Maria Obyn Diversity Scholarships Heather Joan Belsey Scholarship Dr. Ewart A. Swinyard Scholarships in the College of Pharmacy Richard Paul Jensen School of Medicine Scholarship Fund 12. A REVIEW 14. PASSAGES 15. BENNING ENDOWMENT 16. ENDOWED CHAIRS 19. A GREATER GIFT OF HEALTH Donor Report 62. ORGANIZATIONS message from the senior vice president It is not unusual for students these days, particularly students in professional programs, to leave school with a substantial debt load. Scholarships are a time honored way to help minimize debt and it is up to us as school leaders to help find every scholarship dollar we can. Many of our students when job related to my major, which it means we have made the right they come to us have a bit more was chemistry. I was able to study choice. Scholarship recognition life experience than others their longer and harder and left school can be the boost needed to keep age. Many have families. The class with only a small debt. I also felt going when the hours are long, the load is heavy. If you have to also comfortable enough to marry my end of the road far away, the baby hold down a job to support both wife Ann before graduation. Still is crying and the studies are hard. family and school, it makes for a the best decision I’ve ever made. A scholarship can also keep difficult, if not impossible task. Scholarships ease some of giving beyond the school years. Occasionally some extremely good the financial burden and stress When looking for that residency minds fold under the burden. so students can concentrate more or that first job, scholarships on a Whether single, married or on their studies. In ways large and resume catch the eye. They say married with family, it is a small, scholarships help students you have been observed, critiqued, tribute to their passion and work reach the potential we envision for judged and deemed worthy of ethic that there are those who them when they are admitted and someone‘s investment in your are willing to make whatever achieve the goals they envision future. It tells an interviewer that sacrifices and efforts necessary to for themselves. you have qualities people think graduate and succeed. Certainly But there is more to a scholar- are worthy of supporting and fos- loans are available. In fact, the ship than just the money. tering and that a future employer University has more capability Many recipients talk about should also feel that way. to provide loans than it does what a boost it is to their self- A scholarship is something that scholarships. But loans still leave esteem. It is a road sign that they provides value and support much the student with the loan plus are driving in the right career beyond its face value. interest to pay off. direction. We all like pats on the It is a worthwhile investment I sometimes wonder what path back, none of us is too old or so in the future of both the recipient my life would have taken if not lofty that we don’t appreciate a and society. for an undergraduate scholarship I “well done” or “great job.” We received from the Trane Company. take pride in being recognized for Not only did it help with books what we have done. When that and tuition, it provided a summer praise comes in conjunction with what we have chosen as our life A. LORRIS BETZ, M.D., PH.D. path, it is even more meaningful. Senior Vice President for Health Sciences and Executive Dean, School of Medicine It means we can do it, it means that somebody believes in us and 2. “A scholarship is something that provides value and support much beyond its face value.” M ATT G ERACI, Pharmacy, Class of 2006, holder of the 2005 College of Pharmacy Alumni Association Scholarship 3. highlighted scholarships obyn There are exciting life stories — then there are larger-than-life stories. Richard and Maria Obyn fall into the latter category. Theirs is a story of life plans made and changed and success in an often bewildering and strange land. Most of all it is a story of survival, of both life and love. 4. Richard spent his youth in the East Flanders region of Belgium. Studying and exploring the ancient “We hope these scholarships will castles and churches led to an appreciation of the architecture help others overcome their hardships and the artwork contained within. and reach their full potential.” Maria grew up in a family of 14. Her father managed an estate Richard Obyn containing two great and elegant mansions surrounded by seem- ingly endless grounds and woods in which the kids played. Virtually no public transportation But they have been in Utah After high school both were meant the couple met only when almost 40 years and the couple accepted into the Colonial Institute Maria could make the 50 to 60 philosophizes, “One can be happy in Antwerp. kilometer bike ride to Ghent. or unhappy in the same place and Richard was intent on preparing Then the Nazis confiscated her we chose to be happy.” for service in the Belgian Congo. bicycle tires for the “war effort.” After retirement, “We saw a lot They met, and “almost immedi- That is when “we decided to get of our planet, some beautiful and ately I knew I had found the girl married.” It was April 12, 1941. some that made us grateful for I was looking for,” says Richard. Soon Richard was recruited living in the USA.” But war clouds were gathering, into the Belgian resistance. Maria They also decided it was Richard was called into the Army went with him and “being Jewish time to give something back. and shuttled around the country. we were especially fearful for we The University of Utah, close to The school closed and Maria went had seen neighbors and friends their home, was a natural choice. home. They managed to meet only removed from their homes never After a few visits they chose to occasionally in Brussels. to be seen again.” leave a planned gift designating When the Germans pounced, Searching for necessities on the four Diversity Scholarships to the Belgian Army put up a short black market was a constant chore. the Health Sciences. but futile fight. Richard was taken They suffered bombing raids As Richard put it, “We know prisoner. Being both an enemy and and danger, never knowing if that that many students have experi- Jewish, his prospects for survival night together would be their last. enced hardship and discrimina- were nearly non-existent. They lived in an “underground tion, as Maria and I had felt in But fate took a hand. The situation.” war-time Belgium.” Germans were overwhelmed with When the war ended the “We were lucky enough to POWs and let many go. Richard couple decided, “We would rather survive and prosper when was one of them. leave our fatherland and move to neither seemed possible. We He made his way home with different shores.” hope these scholarships will help plans to see Maria only to be They landed in Northern others overcome their hardships greeted by food shortages and California under the sponsorship and reach their full potential.” Nazi flags festooning buildings. of an uncle and aunt, “two skinny kids with the clothes on our backs and not much else.” Later it was a company transfer to Utah where Richard admits, “We had our doubts.” 5.

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