Dean Michael Rosenblatt

Dear Colleagues and Students,

I am pleased to join President Lawrence S. Bacow in his announcement of an exceptionally generous gift to the School of Medicine: $15 million from Dr. Steven Jaharis, M'87; his father Michael Jaharis, Chair of the Medical Board of Overseers; and the Jaharis Family Foundation. The gift is the largest in the history of the Medical School. Most importantly, I am honored to express, on behalf of the students and faculty of Tufts University School of Medicine, our deepest gratitude for this gift that will transform the medical student experience and provide much-needed scholarship support.

The broad impact that this philanthropy will have on the School is remarkable. It builds momentum toward all that we in the Tufts medical community are working to achieve through our collective strategic plan for medical education and research.

This gift is foremost an investment from a medical alumnus who is giving back for the benefit of current and future students. Dr. Jaharis is a family medicine physician in the Chicago area who completed his family medicine residency at Cook County Hospital. A twenty-year benefactor to TUSM, committed to supporting the Tufts Family Medicine program, and a member of our Board of Overseers, he has also served on the sub-committee for facilities and campus identity over the past two years. In this role, he has assessed our campus facilities, met with students and faculty, and gained an in-depth perspective on the space and facility needs for our new medical education curriculum. Drawing from his own medical school experience in this urban environment, Dr. Jaharis understands the need for creating a sense of community and providing optimum space for student and faculty interaction. He also wants this project to move forward as rapidly as possible.

Thus, we are immediately embarking on the planning process to transform the Sackler building into a state-of-the-art medical education and student center. At the same time, we will be establishing a new Clinical Skills and Medical Simulation Center by renovating one floor of the University-owned building on 35 Kneeland Street. Marsha Semuels, Executive Administrative Dean, has convened a steering committee to work with the architectural firm of DiMella Shaffer to guide the development of plans for these two projects. In addition, students, teaching faculty, and administrators located in the new spaces will be involved in formulating the specific programmatic plans that will lead to architectural drawings. We expect that the Clinical Skills Center will be in operation by April 2008, while redevelopment of the Sackler building is slated for completion in time for the opening of school in August 2009.

We envision that a new campus center will include a cafe, a fitness center for students, staff and faculty, and space for student activities, as well as four learning communities with classrooms, quiet study areas, lounges, and lockers. By offering space where students can gather to eat, study, exercise, and interact with faculty, the Jaharis gift will result in a comfortable home base for students and encourage a closer interaction among students and between students and faculty.

The Jaharis family's gift will also fund the creation of a Clinical Skills and Medical Simulation Center that provides the latest technology for hands-on learning experiences for medical students. The Center will prepare medical students for clinical rotations by providing critically important hands-on experience with standardized patients and simulated clinical situations.

Inspired by the gift from the Jaharis Family for these projects, the University has responded with a commitment of $5 million to cover the total $20 million needed to undertake these campus transformations. Moreover, Dr. Jaharis is challenging the school's donor community to contribute an additional $7.5 million toward the building. As more funding is raised for this project, corresponding proportions of the Jaharis Family's gift will be shifted to provide up to 15 much-needed, half-scholarships for students who otherwise would be unable to come to Tufts for their medical education.

Our strategic plan, completed two years ago in the fall of 2005, called for endowing 80 half-tuition scholarships, providing a new student center, and establishing a clinical skills and medical simulation center to provide students with hands-on learning experiences. Through his leadership and guidance of his family's philanthropy, Dr. Jaharis has provided tremendous leverage for the school to make unprecedented progress toward our scholarship goals for students and creating new facilities that will benefit our entire medical community.

As the largest gift received in the history of the School of Medicine, this $15 million commitment is profound evidence of the growing investment we, as a School, have received from both the University and the broader philanthropic community. These renovations on our campus come on the heels of a significant upgrade of research space in the Arnold and South Cove buildings, financed by a $10 million investment from the University. Recent renovations of the Tufts Vision Research Center labs and the build-out of the Study Center on the Immunogenetics of Infectious Diseases Suite, on the fifth floor of the Jaharis building, were funded in part by the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation and the W. M. Keck Foundation, respectively. Planning for the Medical Simulation Center was funded by a grant from the Macy Foundation. These investments are significant votes of confidence in our students and faculty.

We owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Jaharis, his family, to the University and to all those who are joining us in realizing the goals of the School of Medicine's strategic plan. The best measure of our appreciation for their support is to succeed at realizing the vision that we have collectively crafted. We need many hands on deck to move forward.

Marsha and her planning team will be reaching out to engage the full community in this effort. There will be many opportunities for community input on the Sackler renovations prior to their finalization at the end of September. I hope that you will attend the Town Meeting on September 10th at 4:00 p.m in Behrakis auditorium that I have scheduled for discussion of this project. In addition, Marsha and her team are eager to engage in dialogues on the plans. Please contact her to make arrangements. We have established the Building Our Future section that will be updated as plans develop. I encourage everyone in the TUSM community to use the website, including the section that provides an opportunity for you to insert your comments. In addition, I hope that you will forward to me your thoughts about our new initiatives.

I am grateful for your partnership in a strong and bright future for TUSM. Please join me in thanking Steven and Michael Jaharis and the Jaharis Family Foundation for their extraordinary generosity.

Sincerely,

Michael Rosenblatt, M.D.
Dean
Professor of Medicine and Physiology