Rochelle Etingin, center, with her daughters Dr. Orli Etingin, left, and Doreen Davidowitz, right
Rochelle Etingin’s decision to direct her philanthropy to Weill Cornell Medicine was an easy one. The institution is where her beloved late husband, Maks, benefited from superb treatment for many years and where her daughter Dr. Orli Etingin is a leading physician.
Mrs. Rochelle Etingin, Dr. Orli Etingin and her sister Doreen Davidowitz wanted to create a lasting legacy by endowing a coveted Clinical Scholar Award (CSA). The $1 million gift from the Maks and Rochelle Etingin Fund of the Jewish Communal Fund now endows the Etingin Family Clinical Scholar Award in Medicine to support the work of promising early-career and mid-level physician-scientists for generations to come.
The inaugural holder of this endowment, which honors Dr. Etingin, the Lisa and Sanford B. Ehrenkranz Professor in Women’s Health and medical director of the Iris Cantor Women’s Health Center, is cardiovascular specialist Dr. Parag Goyal, assistant professor of medicine.
“Mrs. Etingin embodies the highest spirit of philanthropy,” says Dr. Augustine M.K. Choi, Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine. “Her gift will enable brilliant physician-scientists to discover new life-saving treatments, provide equitable and evidence-based care and conduct groundbreaking research that will improve life for millions of people.”
Clinical Scholar Awards are among the most prestigious academic honors at Weill Cornell Medicine. The program’s three-year grants reduce many of the financial demands that young clinicians face, allowing them more time to devote to research and educational activities. Appointments to these awards are renewable at the dean’s discretion for an additional three-year period.
Each CSA bears a donor’s name, enabling the benefactor to have an enduring effect, while supporting the next generation of medical innovators. “We feel very good about this gift because it’s in the spirit of our family, our parents, and what they’ve taught us and our children about giving back,” explains Dr. Etingin.
Until this gift to Weill Cornell Medicine, much of Mrs. Etingin’s philanthropy went to causes in her native Israel, especially universities and Yad Vashem, the country’s official memorial to the victims of the Nazi genocide. The family’s desire to help young researchers is an extension of their deep interest in education, student scholarships and science, as well as their intrinsic desire to help those starting in their careers – an instinct long nurtured by Mr. Etingin, a Holocaust survivor who trained as an electrical engineer before enjoying a long and successful career in real estate. He passed away in 2019 at the age of 92.
“My husband felt very grateful for all that he achieved in life,” says Mrs. Etingin. “We are remembering his kindness and compassion.”
