Investing in Future Scientists - Lehman College

alumni spotlight
Dr. Elliot Melendez (’95)
A High School Dropout Turned Harvard M.D.
Perseverance is the centerpiece of Dr. Elliot Melendez’s life.
Dr. Melendez dropped out of high school more than twenty years
ago, yet went on to graduate from Lehman and Harvard Medical
School and now works in Pediatric Critical Care at the Massachusetts
General Hospital for Children (MGHfC).
In 1987, as a young man, he left high school to find a full-time job,
but after working in several restaurants as a busboy and dishwasher,
he realized that without that diploma he could never land a
decent-paying job. While earning his G.E.D. with the hope of securing
that better job, he was encouraged by teachers in the program
to pursue college.
Enrolling in Lehman in 1989, he worked full-time while attending
classes and then left school in his junior year to help support his
wife and newborn child. But two years later he was back, ultimately
graduating cum laude with a degree in biology.
Balancing family, work, and class meant that his grades had suffered
somewhat, but he was still able to interview with eleven of
the twenty-one medical schools to which he had applied. Ultimately,
he was admitted to Harvard, where he was surrounded by peers
from more affluent backgrounds. Most had graduated from betterknown
colleges. In the end, though, the importance of his roots
and his respect for his family and his own upbringing helped him
overcome this social obstacle.
Today, at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, his
research focuses on the evaluation of severe infection in infants
and children. In addition, he works with a telemedicine initiative
26 Lehman Today/Fall 2008
Dr. Elliot Melendez is now on the staff at the
Massachusetts General Hospital for Children.
between MGHfC and the Hospital Buen Samaritano in rural Puerto
Rico, which uses video to provide care and advice to doctors and
patients who are out-of-reach of major hospitals. Through this
initiative, patients who would have to travel up to two hours to the
nearest major hospital can visit a participating clinic and receive a
remote evaluation from a specialist.
Dr. Melendez also has returned to the program where he earned
his G.E.D. to prepare others for the exam. He taught a summer
course at Lehman, at the request of Dr. Clarence Branch, Lehman’s
pre-health professions advisor, and last May returned to speak to
students interested in careers in the health professions.
Bronx Legislators Secure Vital Funding for Lehman
The Bronx Delegation of the State Assembly was very successful this year in
advocating for Lehman College’s capital needs. As a result, the College can look
forward to receiving $58 million in bonded funds for:
• critical maintenance projects;
• the design of Phase II of the new science facility; and
• the renovations needed to create “swing space” for the Nursing Department and
the Child Care Center when the T-3 building is demolished to make way for the
Phase II construction.
On the City side, the Bronx Delegation to the City Council was instrumental in
obtaining more than $1.4 million for the new greenhouse in Phase I of the science
facility. Individual legislators, as well, went to bat for Lehman, securing $45,000
for the Speech and Hearing Center, which serves community residents, and other
important grants.