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This is the incredible moment students at a medical school found out their tuition would be free thanks to a $1billion donation.
The gift to students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in The Bronx, New York, is from Ruth Gottesman, 93, the widow of Wall Street investor David ‘Sandy’ Gottesman.
He died in late 2022 and instructed Ruth to ‘Do whatever you think is right,’ his will said.
He left behind a hefty stock portfolio filled with shares of Buffet’s hallowed Berkshire Hathaway, each valued at $618,080 (£488,500).
Ruth instructed that the $1billion donation should be used to cover tuition for all students going forward.
Ruth used to teach at Einstein and delivered the news to students on Monday.
She announced: ‘I’m happy to share with you that starting in August this year, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine will be tuition free.’
Students could be seen giving a standing ovation and clapping following the announcement, as others wiped away tears from their eyes.
The video was posted to X by the medical school and has since generated a response online from people.
There was a standing ovation when students discovered the good news (Picture: Twitter/ MontefioreNYC)
The news was delivered by Ruth Gottesman, 93, to students directly (Picture: Twitter/MontefioreNYC)
Stacey Mayo said: ‘Their joy brought tears to my eyes. This is what we need more of in this country. Billionaires really *can* help, if they wanted to.’
Patrick Doyle wrote: ‘This is unprecedented and incredible. This is the way Education should be. Affordable.’
Amit Gaur added: ‘This is just amazing. There is still hope in this world and there is still good people on this planet.’
Ruth told The New York Times on Monday that she knew immediately what she was going to do with the funds, after her inheritance came as a surprise to even herself.
‘I wanted to fund students at Einstein so that they would receive free tuition,’ she said.
The medical school is located in The Bronx (Picture: Getty Images)
‘I hope he’s smiling and not frowning,’ she said of what her husband might think of the gift. ‘But he gave me the opportunity to do this, and I think he would be happy.
‘I hope so.’
Congressman Ritchie Torres said in a statement: ‘The people of the Bronx are eternally grateful for the generosity of Dr. Ruth Gottesman, whose donation to a Bronx-based institution, the Einstein College of Medicine, has no precedent in the history of our borough.’
Ruth said she hoped her donation would enable new doctors to begin their careers without medical school debt, which often exceeds $200,000.
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The previous largest cash injection for a medical institution came from a $600million donation to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) from Intel founder Gordon Moore and his philanthropist wife Betty Moore in 2001.
Over 55 years Ruth and her husband established the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research, the Ruth L. Gottesman Clinical Skills Center and the Faculty Scholar in Epigenetics.
They also committed to help fund the school’s strategic research priorities in Immunotherapeutics, Cancer, and the Brain Science Initiative.
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