Philanthropist Leaves $5 million to MedICAL School

Ensuring the Future of Medicine

y all accounts, Jean Fiegelman, an elementary school teacher from Pittston, Pennsylvania, and her husband, Harry, a jeweler, lived very modest lives. They retired to Florida in the 1960s and settled in North Miami Beach, keeping the same condo for nearly four decades. They had no children, rarely traveled, and placed their savings in a variety of stocks and bonds.

Harry died in 1988 at age 82, and Jean passed away in February 2004 at age 95. Her will revealed that the Fiegelmans had left the bulk of their $8 million estate—$5 million—to the University of Miami School of Medicine to fund scholarships for “worthy medical students regardless of their race, religion, sex, or national origin.”

John G. Clarkson, M.D., senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Miller School of Medicine, says, “The Fiegelmans’ gift came as a complete surprise. She obviously cared very deeply about the next generation of doctors and the financial burdens caused by the high cost of attending medical school.

“Jean Fiegelman dreamed about being able to make a difference. Her remarkable generosity is an investment in the future of our school that will help assure her dream will come true.”

The Jean B. and Harry L. Fiegelman Scholarship is the medical school’s single largest bequest for student scholarships. Jean Fiegelman’s nephew, Steven Zelkowitz of Miami, says, “She was always philanthropic. She got it from her mother and father. We had no idea how generous she was until she passed away.” He added that the family doesn’t know why Fiegelman chose the medical school to receive the bulk of her estate.

Steven Brooks, vice president and trust officer with Bank of America Private Bank, says, “Mrs. Fiegelman never put on airs. She was generous with family members and charities and donated to medical research in the United States and Israel.”