Friends of the UW School of Medicine (FUWSOM)
Supporting Medical Students
Throughout its history, the Friends of the University of Washington School of Medicine (Friends) have provided vital assistance to medical students. In recent years, the Friends have focused their efforts on raising money to support a wide range of projects that benefit medical students, including student scholarships, an emergency loan fund, several health and wellness programs, visual thinking strategies and the Community Health Advancement Program (CHAP). The Friends have helped hundreds of students over the years, providing emergency loans to 445 students and scholarships to more than 250 students.
Join the Friends
Membership in the Friends is open to all current and former faculty (including emeritus and retired faculty), UW School of Medicine alumni, staff members, spouses and members of the greater community who are interested in medical education.
Activities include an annual meeting at which members make recommendations on allocating funds raised during the year, receive an update from a School of Medicine leader and may meet students who have benefited from their support.
FAQs
No. While current and former faculty are welcome to join the Friends, if you are a UW School of medicine alumni, staff or spouse of a staff, or a community member interested in supporting medical education, you are also welcome!
There are just a few things we ask advisory board members to do:
• Attend two meetings each year. We convene in the fall and spring to discuss our progress, set priorities and plan for the future. We also include time to get to know each other and catch up personally and professionally.
• Be active in giving and fundraising. Your support and efforts to encourage others to contribute will be essential in sustaining and enhancing our programs.
• Recruit new members. We hope you will help us bring new supporters to the board, expanding our network of advocates.
• Serve as an ambassador. Your knowledge of the School of Medicine will be valuable in keeping others informed and engaged.
How long you serve is completely up to you; there are no set term limits, so the term is decided upon by the member.
Since its founding in 1949, the Friends has sponsored more than 250 student scholarships and currently support over 25 students annually with a total of $27,000+ in scholarship aid. In addition to scholarships, we provide over $10,000 annually in emergency student loans and invest in programming, service learning and wellness and mental health programs.
All these initiatives share the same goal: supporting UW School of Medicine students and their dream to become medical professionals.
If you would like to learn more about joining the Friends, please contact co-presidents Kevin O’Brien at cardiac@uw.edu or Rena O’Brien at renafobrien@gmail.com.
You can also reach out to Angela Dugan, director for philanthropy, at 206.618.3318 or adugan@uw.edu.
Mission and History
The Friends support medical students in their education and experience. The volunteer advisory board consists of current and former faculty, alumni, staff, spouses and other community members interested in learning about and supporting medical students.
Founded in 1949 as the Medical Faculty Wives, the group later expanded its role and in 1978 changed its name to the Medical School Auxiliary. In 1993, the organization expanded again, adopting its current name.
Giving to the Friends, Giving to Support Students
Would you like to support the UW School of Medicine and medical students? You can make a gift online to two important funds that support our students:
• The Friends of the UW School of Medicine Endowment will fund scholarships in perpetuity.
• The Friends of the UW School of Medicine Fund awards funds to students in the year that the students come in, and the fund is replenished each year through generous giving.
Or you can send a check made payable to UW Foundation to:
UW Medicine Advancement
Box 358045
Seattle, WA 98195-8045
Please note on your check which fund you would like to support.
You can also support the School with a planned gift. To ensure a successful future for these long-established medical education programs supported by the Friends, several members have made the organization a beneficiary of their estate or retirement plans. Planned gifts provide creative and flexible strategies for your estate and charitable planning.
Contact Angela Dugan, director for philanthropy, at adugan@uw.edu to discuss your options with you or to connect one of our planned giving experts with your adviser.
Co-Presidents:
Rena O’Brien, RN
Kevin O’Brien, MD
Immediate Past Co-Presidents:
David C. Dale, MD
Rose Marie Dale
Members at Large:
Jean D. Crill
Janet H. Murphy, MBChB
David J. Pierson, MD
Pamela Yung, MD
Ex officio:
Bonnie W. Ramsey, MD
Caroline Anderson
Donald W. Belcher, MD
Melvin E. Belding, MD
Michael J. Bishop, MD
Shirley W. Bishop
Jane B. Bremner
James B. Bushyhead, MD
Kristine E. Calhoun, MD
Anna G. Chesnut
Charles H. Chesnut III, MD
Ann A. Coulter
Helen Dichek, MD
Joann G. Elmore, MD, MPH
Ann C. Eschenbach
Elspeth V. Ferguson
Maren B. Gilliland
Amy Grady
H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
Nancy M. Hardy, MD
W. Alan Hodson, MD
Denise G. Klaff
Leslie J. Klaff, MD
Maria Linde
John D. Loeser, MD
Karen W. Loeser
Colleen A. McGough
Patrica McInturff
Sandra B. Norris
Jonathan H. Ostrow, MD
Christine M. Pierson, MD
Dona L. Pierson
Patricia G. Read-Williams, MD
Betsy Robertson
Joan Samson
Werner E. Samson, MD
M. Roy Schwarz, MD
TC Schwarz
Teresa A. Scott
Barbara A. Smith
Yvonne N. Spadoni
Barbara R. Stapleton
Christina M. Surawicz, MD
Sheila J. Swanson
Alexander L. Sytman, MD
Bunny Wood
Katherine Turner
Betty Ripley
Marion Haviland
Dixie Rushmer
Bunny Williams
Janet Ward
1949 – Katherine Turner
1950 – Dixie Rushmer
1950 – Jean Harkins
1951 – Dorothy Lazarus
1952 – Bunny Williams
1953 – Carol Perrin
1954 – Catherine Volwiler
1955 – Jean Morris
1956 – Jean Morris
1957 – Penny Hain
1958 – Eleanor Bruce
1959 – Eleanor Bruce
1960 – Lorraine Figge
1961 – Dixie Rushmer
1962 – Lucille Decker
1963 – Margaret Nyhus
1964 – Joan Grayston
1965 – Lucille Phillips
1966 – Jean Wootton
1967 – Marion Loomis
1968 – Ellyn Swanson
1969 – Shirley Merendino
1970 – Janet Clawson
1971 – Naomi Everett
1972 – Elizabeth Sherris
1973 – Cathy Ensinck
1974 – Jean Crill
1975 – Ginney Stevenson
1976 – Jean Blagg
1977 – Lorna Aagaard
1978 – Kathy Belknap
1979 – Carol Christensen
1980 – Eleanor Farrell
1981 – Sandra Sumi
1982 – Janet Kalina
1983 – Yvonne Spadoni
1984 – Nancy Herman
1985 – Maren Gilliland
1986 – Zita Mannik
1987 – Jane Cummings
1988 – Anna Gene Chesnut
1989 – Judy Knopp
1990 – Joan Samson
1991 – Marla Moss
1992 – Miriam Cullen
1993 – Ann Spiess
1994 – Teresa Scott
1995 – Peggy Hanel
1996 – Mimi Hanks-Bell
1997 – Lorraine Figge
1998 – Catherine Ensinck
1999 – Rose Marie Dale
2000 – Jean Crill
2001 – Anne Green
2002 – William Green, MD
2003 – Anna Gene Chesnut
2004 – Ann A. Coulter, Bonnie W. Ramsey, MD
2005 – Ann A. Coulter, Bonnie W. Ramsey, MD
2006 – Susan G. Marshall, MD, Joan Samson
2007 – Susan G. Marshall, MD, Joan Samson
2008 – Elspeth V. Ferguson
2009 – Elspeth V. Ferguson
2010 – Sandra B. Norris
2011 – Sandra B. Norris
2012 – Zita L. Mannik
2013 – Zita L. Mannik
2014 – David J. Pierson, MD
2015 – David J. Pierson, MD
2016 – Pamela Yung, MD
2017 – Pamela Yung, MD
2018-2024 – Rose Marie and David Dale, MD
