By Jeanne M. Hoban

When Ian Oppenheim moved to Ohio from Boston, Massachusetts, he was looking for ways to contribute to his new community. His physician, Dr. Erwin Maseelall, invited him to join the NEOMED Foundation Board.

In a meeting with students, Oppenheim recalled the conversation with the emeritus board member with a smile: “He said, ‘I can help you to be a director of a medical university.’ I didn’t know anything about medicine. He said ‘Ah, you’ll learn.’ So, I served on the foundation board and thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Oppenheim served as a member of the NEOMED Foundation Board for nine years until 2023, including two years as a member of the Executive Committee and a chair of the Committee on Directors. He was also chair of the Planned Giving committee.

While his tenure on the NEOMED Foundation Board has ended, his support for the University has not.

He and his wife, Marta Williger, both elder law attorneys, are the founding benefactors of The Journal of Medical Sciences at NEOMED Endowment.

“We knew we wanted to make a gift, but the question was, what kind of gift? We thought of a scholarship, but that would only benefit one student,” Oppenheim recalled.

The couple met with NEOMED President John Langell, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., to discuss options. Dr. Langell suggested that a gift to the student-led journal would impact numerous students each year by providing an outlet to publish scholarly work and participate in the publication process.

Before making their decision, Oppenheim and Williger met with M.D./Ph.D. student Trinity Kronk, who founded the journal with advisor Fayez Safadi, Ph.D.

Before making their decision, Oppenheim and Williger met with M.D./Ph.D. student Trinity Kronk, who founded the journal with advisor Fayez Safadi, Ph.D.

“We met Trinity at a fundraiser and we were thoroughly impressed with her,” said Williger.

Before benefiting from the couple’s generosity, the Journal of Medical Sciences was supported by strategic initiative funding from the University. To ensure a sustainable future, the journal would need better, more efficient ways to receive new manuscripts, as well as systems to manage the review and publication processes. Those efforts will now be bolstered by the endowment.

For Oppenheim and Williger, the endowment meets their philanthropic goals.

“We could help more than one student,” Oppenheim shared. “We could fund a project that would elevate the University and bring credit to it. And it just seemed to me that would be fun.”

Learn more

Read the latest issue of the Journal of Medical Sciences

Read Showcasing Student Research to learn the story behind the journal in the Fall 2022 issue of Ignite

To learn how you can make a difference by supporting the Journal of Medical Sciences, contact 330.325.6662 or philanthropy@380cebbe0d.nxcli.io.