College Of Medicine Alum “Gives Back” $1 Million For Scholarships
The Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine recently received its first one million dollar alumni gift from Jay Olen Franklin.
The Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine recently received its first one million dollar alumni gift from Jay Olen Franklin, M.D., a member of the medical school’s inaugural class, and his wife Ana. This gift to the Texas A&M Foundation will one day create the Ana Hernandez Franklin ’80 and Jay Olen Franklin ’78 Scholarships, dedicated to scholarship aid for medical students at Texas A&M.
The couple, who met during their undergraduate years at Texas A&M said they wanted to give back to the institution that gave them so much. Jay Franklin was a member of the charter class of medical students at the Texas A&M College of Medicine, and actually began the program while a senior member of the Corps of Cadets.
“Two endowed scholarships were offered by the College of Medicine for the inaugural class of at the new medical school in 1977. I was very honored to receive the Dr. Sam Houston Sanders ’22 Presidential Scholarship in Medicine and it set me on my path to a very rewarding career,” Jay Franklin said. “I want others to have the same opportunities I had from receiving scholarship aid. Ana and I are excited to be able to give back to Texas A&M College of Medicine in the manner that Dr. Sanders has given to A&M.”
Indeed, that scholarship and his degree from the Texas A&M College of Medicine set him on a path to great achievements. Franklin did an internship in Internal Medicine at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas, and then was a resident in Internal Medicine at the University of Louisville which included a year as chief resident in Internal Medicine. A Cardiovascular Medicine fellowship followed at the University of Missouri where he was named outstanding fellow. His final training was completed with a second fellowship in Cardiac Electrophysiology in the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco. Franklin has been affiliated with the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas since completing his training and is highly respected in his field as a cardiac electrophysiologist.
The $1 million life insurance gift that the Franklins established will create a total of four scholarships, one to provide full-ride funding for a student and three Dean’s Excellence Scholarships which provide $5,000 each per year.
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