Richard A.Sarner and his wife Cheri

by Jim Rogalski

With his father seriously ill and requiring brain surgery, Richard A. Sarner’s, T’79, MD’83, medical education—and possibly his entire career—was nearly derailed while attending Duke School of Medicine
in the early 1980s.

“It created a financial hardship on the family,” says Sarner, a radiologist and chief medical officer for a chain of diagnostic imaging centers.

His wife Cheri adds that “for his medical education, everything was going to have to come to an abrupt halt.”

The Financial Aid Office quickly secured an anonymous donor whose financial support allowed Sarner to continue his medical education.

That generous act meant so much to Sarner that he vowed someday
to help a student in the same way that he was helped.

That day arrived recently when the Sarners committed to giving $125,000 to the School of Medicine Financial Aid Initiative (FAI). The gift qualifies for matching funds from the FAI Challenge Match for a total of $250,000, and Duke will establish the Dr. Richard A. and Cheri Sarner School of Medicine Scholarship Fund.The Challenge Match was established with $75 million from The Duke Endowment, and a total of $25 million from four families.

“It is very rewarding to be able to give back,” Richard Sarner says. “I see Duke as a part of my extended family, and there was such a sense of peacefulness and tranquility and accomplishment when I was finally able to (make this gift).”

CLOSING IN ON $12M FAI GOAL

Bobbie Brown, president of Duke Medical Faculty Wives,examies merchandise at the Nearly New Shoppe on Erwin Road in Durham. The thrift store's profits have funded almost $4 million in scholarships for medical and nursing students over the last 39 years.

It is the generosity of the Sarners and many other alumni and friends of Duke Medicine who have powered the Duke School of Medicine Financial Aid Initiative to the $11 million mark to date of its $12 million goal. The campaign continues through 2008.

“We are extremely thankful to the Sarners for their generous gift, and to all who have contributed large and small amounts to help us make such great progress,” says Michael Morsberger, vice president of Duke Medicine Development and Alumni Affairs. “This initiative will greatly help Duke continue to educate the medical leaders of tomorrow, and no gift is too small to help in that important goal.”

With the total cost for an entering Duke medical student currently at $62,731, there are many who need financial help to ensure they are not over-burdened with debt when they complete their medical education here. Eighty-seven percent of all Duke medical students receive some form of financial aid, and their average total debt is $74,790 compared to the national average of $138,093 for private medical schools.
Other recent major gifts to the Duke Medicine Financial Aid Initiative include:

• $620,000 appraised value of a vacation home donated by Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. King, Jr.—parents of Robert T. King, III, T’84, MD’88. The gift will be matched for a total of $1 million.

• $400,000 from the Faculty Wives Association that runs the Nearly New Shoppe on Erwin Road in Durham. A $300,000 match brings the total contribution to $700,000.

• $100,000 from Duke University Trustee Thomas Gorrie, MD, to be split between the schools of medicine and nursing.

A SHOW OF GOOD WILL

Richard Sarner says the FAI Challenge Match “was an amazing bonus and a remarkable show of good will and good faith by the university and The Duke Endowment.”

In addition to their gift, the Sarners hosted a dinner party for Duke faculty, alumni, and friends in conjunction with the Duke Palm Beach Forum in January.

Cheri Sarner says her husband has “always wanted to help someone
the way someone helped him. We don’t have to buy a wing of a hospital to make a difference. We can help one person the way one person helped him. Because of that single gift, my husband has cared for thousands of people, not to mention the countless number of lives he has saved.”

As for Richard Sarner’s father, Cheri Sarner says “because of the miracles of medicine, his father is still alive and in his 80s.”

The Sarners live in Jupiter, Fla., with their two children, son Harrison,
16; and daughter Arden, 13.