Margaret Smith, a longtime champion of Weill Cornell Medicine, has made an extraordinary $20 million bequest to strengthen student scholarships and elevate medical education at the medical college. This remarkable gift will specifically help fund the institution’s transformative Debt-Free Scholarship Program, which replaces student loans with scholarships that cover tuition, housing and other living expenses for all medical students with demonstrated financial need.
Margaret Smith, center, surrounded by students of Weill Cornell Medicine.
Mrs. Smith is the widow of former Board of Fellows member A.J.C. “Ian” Smith, retired chair of Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., a global professional services firm. Mr. Smith, who died in 2022, was also co-chair of Weill Cornell Medicine’s Lewis Atterbury Stimson Society, which honors donors who have established planned gifts or named Weill Cornell Medicine as a beneficiary in their wills or trusts.
“Ian and I both believed that philanthropy could be a force for good,” says Mrs. Smith. “Although we never had children, here at Weill Cornell Medicine we saw an opportunity to help young people pursue their dreams.”
The couple felt so strongly about the importance of supporting medical education, they committed $10 million to create the Margaret and Ian Smith Clinical Skills Center in 2008. The 10,000-square-foot facility is a centerpiece of the medical college’s curriculum, providing students a realistic environment where they can practice their new skills on mannequins and patient actors.
In addition to supporting student programs, the Smiths have also been generous supporters of Weill Cornell Medicine’s research enterprise, including the Israel Englander Department of Dermatology and the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine.
Dr. Richard P. Cohen with Margaret Smith. Dr. Cohen, clinical professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, is the Smith family’s longtime physician who inspired their support of medical education.
“With their exceptional philanthropy, Margaret and Ian have cemented their legacy as two of our most committed supporters, especially of our students,” says Jessica M. Bibliowicz, chair of the Board of Fellows. “The Smiths exemplify the kind of donors who make Weill Cornell Medicine unique and special.”
A Love Affair with New York City
Mrs. Smith’s beloved husband, Ian, was born in Glasgow, Scotland and raised there in the years after World War II. He lost his father at an early age, and his mother, unable to afford her son’s education, found him a job as a delivery boy at an insurance company. It proved to be an industry he loved. He rose quickly, becoming an actuary by age 25, one of the youngest in Scotland at the time, according to Mrs. Smith.
Mr. Smith emigrated to Canada in the early 1960s, where he eventually met and married Margaret, a young woman born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The couple decided to move to New York City in 1975 to further his career at Marsh & McLennan.
For Mrs. Smith, especially, New York was love at first sight.
“Coming to New York City felt very comfortable,” she says. “We loved the energy, the people and this sense that New York was like a collection of small villages, which appealed to us.”
A medical student training with a standardized patient in the Margaret and Ian Smith Clinical Skills Center.
To get to know the city better, a friend suggested she volunteer at New York Hospital (now NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center). Soon, Mrs. Smith helped out in the hospital gift shop and delivered items to patients’ rooms. She enjoyed working with staff and connecting with patients, and she remained a volunteer for many years.
Mr. Smith was equally active as a volunteer in his adopted city. In addition to Weill Cornell Medicine, he was committed to assisting nonprofits that improved quality of life in New York City, including the Central Park Conservancy and Carnegie Hall. He joined the Weill Cornell Medicine Board of Fellows in 1998 and served as chair of the Board’s Government Relations, Community Affairs and Domestic Affiliations Committee (now known as the External Relations Committee).
“Margaret Smith’s remarkable generosity will have a lasting impact on our talented future physicians,” says Dr. Robert A. Harrington, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine. “A gift like this comes from the heart – it’s about lifting the financial burden so our students can focus fully on becoming the compassionate, skilled doctors our communities count on.”
