UVM President Tom Sullivan, backdropped by medical students, announces the $66 million bequest to the medical school from Bob and Helen Larner. VBM photo.
by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine To know University of Vermont President Tom Sullivan is to appreciate what a cool customer he is. But even he got emotional this afternoon in announcing the university's largest ever gift and the largest single gift to any public university in New England. The gift is an estate commitment with an estimated current market value of $66 million from UVM dual-degree alum and Vermont native Robert Larner ’39, MD’42, and his wife, Helen. The commitment to donate caps decades of philanthropic support from the Larners, whose lifetime giving now will likely reach $100 million. Much of the money the Larners have donated has gone to low interest loans, grants and scholarships to provide financial aid to about a third of the 4,500 medical school graduates. Many of the current class of students attended the announcement under a big tent adjacent to the medical school in Burlington.
To recognize and express gratitude for their extraordinary commitment to medical education at UVM, the University of Vermont Board of Trustees voted to name the college of medicine in honor of Dr Larner. The medical school will now be known as The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at The University of Vermont. When realized and combined with previously announced gifts from the Larners, the bequest will vastly accelerate the Larner College of Medicine’s ability to reach the institutional goal inspired by Dr. Larner – to be recognized as second to none for medical education worldwide.
The Larners’ gift marks the first occasion in the United States for which a medical school is named to honor an alumnus physician and donor.
“Today, we stand at a defining moment in the history of this great university as we celebrate the goal we’ve shared with Dr Larner for years – to be recognized as second to none in medical education,” said Tom Sullivan, president of the University of Vermont. “We remain in awe of how he embraces philanthropy. His love for humanity, and his desire to provide long-term endowment funding, will greatly enhance medical education at UVM – and by extension will elevate medical care for patients in Vermont and worldwide who are treated by those trained here – for many generations to come.”
The Larners with UVM President Sullivan and Dean Morin at the Larners home in Los Angeles earlier this year. UVM photo.
Robert Larner’s nearly 80-year relationship with The University of Vermont began during his childhood in Burlington’s Old North End, where he was one of seven children of a local roofer during the Great Depression. The only one of his siblings to go to college, he attended UVM in part thanks to a scholarship he received when he won the state debate championship. After graduating from the UVM College of Medicine, he served in World War II, settled in the Los Angeles area to build a successful medical practice and invested in the burgeoning Southern California commercial real estate market.
“I give to the University of Vermont College of Medicine because the education I received here made everything great that followed in my life possible,” said Dr. Robert Larner. “I’m humbled that The University of Vermont has decided to name the medical college in my honor, but I’m equally grateful for the opportunity to impact the future of medical education and to inspire others to contribute to this exceptional institution which is truly second to none.”
“In recognition of Robert and Helen Larner’s new commitment, which brings their lifetime giving to an astounding $100 million – $95 million in just the last 11 months – we celebrate Robert Larner’s devotion to medical education,” said David Daigle, chair of The University of Vermont Board of Trustees. “It is my distinct privilege, on behalf of the full board, to officially name this college to which he has given so much of himself The Robert Larner, MD College of Medicine.”
The historic gift announcement was made to a large crowd gathered outside the entrance to the Larner College of Medicine with more than 150 medical students in their white coats standing behind the speakers at the podium. The students’ presence demonstrated their profound gratitude to the Larners and acknowledged the pivotal role that endowment gifts make in the excellence and long-term growth of the medical college.
Endowed funds maintain the donor’s gift as principal in perpetuity while paying out a small portion, typically around four percent per year, to fund designated programs. Once the Larners’ bequest is realized, approximately 95 percent of their lifetime giving will be secured endowment funding, so their giving will generate roughly $4 million annually to ensure that The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine remains at the forefront of medical education for generations to come.
For many years Dr. Larner has supported innovation in medical education at UVM, and this gift will accelerate the transformation underway at the College. The data are clear that engaging students in active learning is superior to providing passive lectures for teaching science, especially so for women and minorities. Thus, the College has been moving away from lecture-based courses and toward team-based learning, simulation, flipped classrooms, and other engaged learning activities. Recent initiatives include digitizing the entire curriculum, creating new innovative classrooms that facilitate active learning, building an enhanced simulation center to help students learn clinical skills, and recruiting an endowed Professor of Medical Education to lead the Teaching Academy.
“This is a joyful day of recognition of an alumnus of the College of Medicine and his amazing act of generosity,” said Frederick Morin, M.D., dean of the Larner College of Medicine. “This gift is the culmination of a commitment that Dr. Larner made to me in his den several years ago, and it is now our awesome responsibility to deliver on our commitment by using his gift to ensure our students receive – in his words – a medical education second to none.”
Third-year medical student Soraiya Thura spoke on behalf of the medical students, many of whom stood behind her during the ceremony. VBM photo.
The State of Vermont’s support for Vermont student aid is critical to ensuring that talented Vermonters without the necessary financial resources – like Dr. Robert Larner, who received a scholarship – can continue to attend the state’s flagship university. As Vermont’s only research university, UVM is an economic engine for the entire state, and the Larner College of Medicine plays a substantial role in creating a significant return on the state’s investment. It is estimated that the total economic impact of the Larner College of Medicine exceeds $400 million annually in Vermont, directly and indirectly supporting over 2600 jobs in the state.
"This is a great day for the University of Vermont,” said Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin in a statement. “This historic gift allows innovation in medical education that will be transformational not only for students, but to the State of Vermont by producing exceptional physicians and putting us on the map with one of the top medical schools in the country. We recognize that the partnership between UVM and the State of Vermont is critical to the education, well-being and economic opportunity for Vermonters and we will work diligently to keep that partnership strong and vibrant.”
The governor was prepared to attend, but bad weather kept the state aircraft on the ground where he was in Springfield.
Bob Larner
Dr Larner is a native Vermonter who was born in Burlington's Old North End neighborhood in 1918, the seventh child of a roofer, who had emigrated from Russia. He was the only sibling to attend college, in part thanks to scholarship support he earned in part from winning the state championship as a high school debater, he was able to earn his bachelor's degree from UVM in 1939 and subsequently earned an MD degree from UVM in 1942.
He completed an internship at Maine Medical Center in Portland, and then served in the military during World War II at both Guadalcanal and Okinawa. He returned to complete his residency at Johns Hopkins, and went on to practice internal medicine with the Robert Larner Medical Group in Los Angeles, CA. retiring in 1989.
California, just after World War II, was an auspicious place to settle. The Larners made wise investments in real estate as his practice grew, for which his alma mater is now grateful.
In 2013, he was honored by UVM for Lifetime Achievement in Philanthropy and received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree at the 2014 Commencement Ceremonies. In 1992, at his 50th Medical Reunion, he was honored with the A Bradley Soule Award, the highest alumni award given by the College of Medicine.
The Larners have a long history of giving at the College, which began in 1985 when they established the Larner Endowment and Student Loan Fund with an initial gift of $50,000. The Fund – to which the Larners contribute annually – has since helped nearly 1,300 UVM medical students pay for their medical education.
Their wish to create a culture of giving back has inspired gifts from an expansive network of donors that includes past recipients, other alumni, and friends. They have also generously supported a number of medical education initiatives at UVM, including:
A recent donation of $600,000 to support the development of curriculum, purchase of equipment and training for clinicians in point of care (POC) ultrasound in the Clinical Simulation Laboratory at UVM.
An April 2016 gift of $19.7 million in commercial property and cash – then the largest one-time gift in the university's history – to fund the construction of the Larner Learning Commons, which will house the College's Teaching Academy and provide space and resources to develop the best teaching technologies and techniques.
As part of UVM's Move Mountains campaign, the Larners made a contribution of $8.9 million to establish the Robert and Helen Larner Medical Education Fund in the College in October 2015.
A $1 million commitment in 2013 helped build the College's first team-based learning classroom – named the Larner Classroom – in the Medical Education Center, which was named for Dr. Larner in May 2013. The classroom supports interactive and case-based learning for the College's medical students.
In 2012, the Larners contributed $300,000 to purchase five cardiopulmonary simulators for use by medical and health science students and professionals in the Clinical Simulation Laboratory.
State support combined with private philanthropy through the UVM Foundation is helping the university to reach new heights. Launched publicly in October 2015, Move Mountains: The Campaign for The University of Vermont has raised $375 million of the $500 million goal to support four key areas: student access and affordability, faculty endowments, new and renovated facilities, and academic programs. The bequest from the Larners is a tremendous commitment to fund the bright future of the Larner College of Medicine, but there are still multiple additional fundraising priorities that remain.
As he has often said, one of Dr Robert Larner’s core reasons for donating is to inspire others to give. With this bequest, and the many donations that preceded it, he has helped not only to greatly enhance medical education at UVM but also to create a philanthropic culture that is second to none.
Source: UVM 9.23.2016. Link to a video and background materials on the Larner gift at http://www.uvm.edu/medicine/