MCG Foundation Announces $66 Million Gift

AUGUSTA, Ga. - April 29, 2013 - PRLog -- The Medical College of Georgia Foundation has announced a transformational gift from the estate of MCG alumnus and long-time Foundation board member, J. Harold Harrison, MD. The gift, which will be in excess of $66 million, is the largest in the history of the university and one of the largest ever received by a public university in Georgia. In 2012, Dr. Harrison also made a $10 million gift for a total of $76 million.

This gift, called the Harrison Fellowship Endowment Fund, will not be for new buildings or renovations, but will be invested in students and distinguished faculty. Specifically, the entirety of the Harrison gift will be endowed and will support student scholarships and endowed chairs.

J. “Harold” Harrison, a 1948 MCG graduate, vascular surgery pioneer and cattle farmer, made a commitment many years ago to support student education at the Medical College of Georgia.

In his own words, Harold expressed this desire to give back to the medical school that turned him into a doctor. “When someone asks me why I support the MCG Foundation, it really boils down to a basic principle of providing what input I can to develop a medical school where a gifted individual from the state knowing no better or having no choice from a financial standpoint of attending the state medical school can look back after being out of school for 20 to 30 years and have no regret or question of the quality of the medical education that he received-one that if he had a son or daughter that is equally gifted with the option of choosing any school in the country would consider it a privilege to stay home for his medical education.”

Dr. Jim Osborne, President & CEO of the Foundation, knew Dr. Harrison for over 22 years in his many capacities at MCG. “Harold made a comment to me many years ago that I have not forgotten...that he was so proud that MCG took a country boy and made a doctor out of him.” Dr. Osborne, Mrs. Harrison, and a close group of friends from the Foundation Board, and State Representative Barbara Sims, urged Harold to make a commitment to support the building of the Education Commons at GRU. “Harold wanted to invest in people, not in bricks and mortar, but the idea of a ‘home’ for medical and dental students intrigued him enough to make the lead gift,” says long-time friends Dr. Cecil Whitaker, Dr. Billy Mayher, and members of the Foundation Board.

Before his death in 2012, Dr. Harrison pledged $10 million in support of the Education Commons Building at Georgia Regents University, which is set to be completed in 2014 and will bear his name.

Having served two terms as Chairman of the Board of the Medical College of Georgia Foundation, Dr. Harrison understood the importance of creating intergenerational equity through endowment. This once in a lifetime gift will not only have an immediate impact on MCG’s ability to recruit the most talented students and faculty to its medical training program, but the impact will continue far into the future.

The Foundation currently manages over $130 million in endowed funds, with 48 endowed chairs and over 90 student scholarships. It turns over more than $6 million annually to the University to support faculty, scholarships, programs, and capital projects. Harold’s spirit lives through every one of these programs and will continue to resonate with each student who benefits from his generosity.