Miller School of Medicine Wins Madness in March Giving Challenge

Thanks to a strong showing by alumni, the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine took first place in one of the two categories in UM’s Madness in March giving challenge.

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For a second consecutive year, an anonymous donor offered $10,000 – $5,000 to the school with the most donors in the month of March, and $5,000 to the school with the highest participation percentage.

Throughout the month, alumni were encouraged to donate gifts of any size to help the medical school compete against UM’s other schools and colleges in the annual fundraising event.

Interim Dean Laurence B. Gardner, M.D., MACP, and Alex J. Mechaber, M.D. ’94, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education and the Bernard J. Fogel Chair in Medical Education, helped kick off the challenge with a video pep talk to encourage participation.

The Miller School had the highest percentage participation of alumni donors, at 3.2 percent, followed by the School of Law at 2.7 percent and the School of Architecture at 2.1 percent.

“We are incredibly grateful for the support of our alumni, which will help our future medical students for years to come,” said Gardner.

The first place finish in the participation percentage category earns the Miller School a $5,000 scholarship, which will support the John K. Robinson Scholarship and travel grant.

It also provides bragging rights for the next year. On April 6, Gardner and Mechaber were presented with the Madness in March trophy.

In the category of total number of donors, the Miller School took fourth place with 276 donors. The first place finisher in that race was the School of Business Administration with 825 donors, followed by the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Law.

Tags: Alex Mechaber, alumni, Laurence Gardner, Madness in March