Gifts in Action
Every gift made to MCPHS has a profound, positive impact upon the life of every student. All contributions help MCPHS deliver the educational experience upon which our students rely to guide and support them toward successful, sustainable careers and leadership in health care. With the renewed generous assistance of charitable contributions made by thousands of alumni and friends, MCPHS is able to maintain its standing as one of the foremost institutions of higher learning in the nation.
We’d like to share some of our donor’s stories with you. Each story is unique and yet each donor shares in common the desire to support and grow the legacy of MCPHS.
Gifts in action
Ruthe (Finn) Cochran BSP ’48
“I’ve had the best life a person can have,” said Ruthe (Finn) Cochran BSP ’48, who has been a pharmacist, research chemist, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, an Arabian horse breeder, an activist for children with disabilities and a real estate developer. “I’ve been successful because of the training that I received at the College.”
Her education provided her with the critical-thinking and problem- solving skills needed to thrive in any situation. As a clinical pharmacist at Northampton State Hospital, one of Massachusetts’ psychiatric hospitals, she worked with the health care team to evaluate patients and determine their eligibility for discharge. After joining the U.S. Air Force in 1951, she was accepted into officers’ training school and received a commission as a second lieutenant in the medical corps. She served as a hospital administrator at Westover Air Force Hospital in Chicopee Falls, Mass.
A widow, Mrs. Cochran sought to give back to her alma mater, and after conferring with her attorney, deeded property she owned in Prescott, Ariz., to the College. The property was sold and the proceeds will fund an annuity for Mrs. Cochran.
The lobby in the Borysek Living and Learning Center at MCPHS– Worcester will be named in her honor. “I’m 150 percent behind what the College is doing,” said Mrs. Cochran. “I’ve met with Charlie Monahan, and he’s done a remarkable job at the College… When I was a student I received two small scholarships, and I’ve never forgotten it. The future of the world is our youth. I think it’s fantastic what the College is doing to assist students.”
Laura Chan DH ’74 Forsyth
“The dental hygiene skills you learn stay with you, no matter what you do,” said Laura Chan DH ’74, BSHS, the director of the Audit Processing and Services Unit, at the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR), where she oversees 40-plus employees.
“My Forsyth education helped develop my inter-personal and diagnostic skills. You’re presented with the symptoms, and you find the correct treatment plan. It carries over to any situation.”
After a successful career as a dental hygienist at Tufts University Dental School’s Student Health Services and the first bilingual dental hygienist at the newly founded South Cove Community Health Center in Boston, which caters to a Chinese-American population, Ms. Chan switched her vocation in 1983. Still, she maintained her contacts with DH professionals Patricia (Crane) Ramsay DH ‘66, Jan Selwitz-Segal DH ‘65 and Janet Lamkin DH ‘94. Up until a few years ago, Ms. Chan worked as a dental hygiene volunteer on weekends at the Lowell Community Health Center in Lowell.
“Even though I left the profession, the circle was there,” said Ms. Chan, who is now an MCPHS trustee. “It’s important to give back and to come back and see what current DH students will bring to the future of the profession...You have to remember your roots. That’s all there is to it. You have to remember where you came from so you know where you’re going...”
“Becoming part of MCPHS was a positive step, one that helped make the Forsyth program even stronger. I’m quite impressed with how the Forsyth School has flourished, and I want to support that.”
Michael Esposito BSP ’78
Little did Michael Esposito BSP ’78 know that serving on the MCPHS Student Council would alter his career in pharmacy. President Raymond A. Gosselin BSP ’43-II, MS ’48, ScD ’70, ScD ‘85 became one of his mentors, and encouraged him to enroll in the prestigious Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, where he received his MBA. “President Gosselin had a profound influence on my life,” he said.
Today, a successful management consultant to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry and a partner at Norbridge Inc., Mr. Esposito still maintains his pharmacy license. He has fond memories of MCPHS, playing on the College’s basketball team, acting in student productions of “Dracula,” “The Fantasticks,” and “The Rainmaker” and receiving the Howard L. Reed award at graduation for overall student achievement. All his MCPHS experiences, including his role as a pharmacy intern, afforded him the confidence he needed to succeed in business.
“Pharmacy gave me a window to a bigger world,” said Mr. Esposito. “The College allowed me to explore many different paths.”
He remembers the support of his advisor George Matelli, today a professor emeritus, and the friendships formed with pharmacy classmates Mason “Skip” Irving III, Gary Grundy, and Ronald J. Chase Jr. To honor a gift to MCPHS from Mr. Esposito and his wife, Cynthia, a dormitory suite in the Ronald A. Matricaria Academic and Student Center was named after his parents, Salvatore J. and Mildred C. Esposito.
“In order for the College to thrive, alumni have to think of it as a business with a payroll to meet, and with programs to maintain, and with technology to stay current,” he said. “Alumni have a major role to play in the College’s future.”