Columbia University Irving Medical Center Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Rudin Scholars Program

This past spring nearly 40 students, faculty, and staff of Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) and members of the Rudin family joined together at the School of Nursing to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the Rudin Scholars Program at Columbia.

The Rudin Scholars Program has provided scholarship support to more than 750 students at VP&S, the School of Nursing, the Mailman School of Public Health, the Center for the Study of Society and Medicine, and Programs in Occupational and Physical Therapy since the program’s establishment. The program is supported by the Louis and Rachel Rudin Foundation and the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation. Since 1975, the medical center has received more than $30 million in current use and endowed funds from the Rudin family and foundations to support the hallmark initiative and dozens of other programs.

Monica Lypson, MD, MHPE, Vice Dean for Education at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, hosted the celebration and opened the event with inspiring words, “Marked by 50 years of consistent financial aid for CUIMC health sciences students, the Rudin Scholars Program is the oldest and most impactful of its kind at CUIMC.” 

She shared a poignant 1970 letter from Dr. Paul A. Marks, former Dean and Vice President in charge of Medical Affairs at VP&S, to Samuel Rudin following a meeting with Mr. Rudin and his family about establishing an annual scholarship gift to support medical and nursing education at Columbia. In the letter, Dr. Marks wrote: “I stand ready to proceed on what I hope will be a continuing and I know rewarding relationship.”

The evening spotlighted the newest cohort of Rudin Scholars: Elora Buscher, Grace Franzese, Elisabeth Geraghty, Christine Hochen, Arinzechukw Aniekwe, Joshua Dawson, Jeremiah Douchee, and Jonah Rodgers from VP&S; Alyssa Gagni, Megan McDonald, Julia Mieleszko, Leora Musheyev, and Sacha Ramsaran from the School of Nursing, and Casey Dugan-Moran and Joanna Lee from the Programs in Occupational Therapy.

Beyond providing financial assistance for our health sciences students, the Rudin family and foundations have a long history of supporting numerous endeavors at the medical center—all of them critical in helping Columbia provide superior training for tomorrow’s leaders in clinical care and research, enhance innovative research that improves patient care, and expand access to vital clinical services. This includes the Dr. June Jackson Christmas Summer Medical Student Fellowship Program for historically underrepresented groups in psychiatry; the Medical Student Research Fund; the Medical Student Emergency Fund; the VP&S Student-run Free Clinics; and a cardiovascular research study, led by Dr. Hiroo Takayama.

Eric Rudin, son of Jack Rudin, was present at the reception, along with his cousin, Michael Rudin, directors of the Louis and Rachel Rudin Foundation and the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, and Alice Eaton, executive director of the Rudin foundations. Eric shared a moving account of his grandparents’ journey from Russia to New York and their start in real estate and philanthropy. He explained the longstanding relationship between Columbia and his family, “Back in the 1880s my great-grandparents Louis and Rachel Rudinsky fled to the U.S. from Russia to get themselves away from the horrible pogroms and the terrible antisemitism that permeated that part of the world. With nothing in their pockets, they set about creating a new life for themselves in America. My grandfather and most of his eight siblings were born in the back of a dry goods store on Chrystie Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.”

Mr. Rudin went on to tell the story of his family starting the Rudin Management Company in 1925 when they built their first apartment house in the Bronx. He remarked that his family has long prioritized giving back to the great institutions of New York City, including Columbia. “Giving back is something that has been ingrained in us. It’s a way of thanking the people who make our city so great. It’s our hope that [through the Rudin Scholars Program] we have made your difficult and challenging goals a little bit easier to achieve.”

The Rudin Scholars Program stands as a testament to academic excellence, recognizing and nurturing the brightest minds with the highest potential. It plays a pivotal role in CUIMC’s financial aid initiatives, ensuring that the most talented students in the nation have access to an internationally renowned education. Through this extraordinary generosity, the Rudin foundations not only strengthen CUIMC’s financial aid network but also contribute to groundbreaking advancements that enhance patient care and improve lives—locally in New York and across the globe.