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Keeping P&S Special
June Wu’96, assistant professor of surgery at P&S,
remembers the financial burden some of her classmates
faced after graduation. “You don’t want to discourage
people from going into medicine, or to only go into certain
specialties because they reimburse better,” says Dr.
Wu. She liked the idea of contributing to a program that
will keep P&S accessible to talented students and give
them freedom to pursue their interests.
“If you love what you do,” she says, “you will become
a better doctor and a better scientist.”
After fellowships in craniofacial surgery and vascular
anomalies at Children’s Hospital of Boston, Dr. Wu
returned to P&S as an assistant professor in the Department
of Surgery, where she specializes in pediatric plastic surgery.
“I like plastic surgery because there is an element of
artistry to it,” she says. Dr. Wu, a pianist who was a
founding member of the Musicians’ Guild, formed during
the 1992-93 academic year, cites the availability of
diverse extracurricular experiences at Columbia for helping
her to become a better physician.
“When you have many dimensions to you, it makes
you a better doctor,” she says. “I think this is what makes
P&S students so special, that they can relate to patients
on a personal level as well as a professional level.”
June Wu’96
Legacy Challenge donors Don McAllister Jr. and Maureen Cafferty’79, left, with P. Roy Vagelos’54,
chair of CUMC’s Board of Visitors, at the Legacy Dinner in October 2011.
A Surprise Gift Honors
Another Contributor
Maureen Cafferty’79 wasn’t sure what to think last October when her husband stood
up to speak at the Legacy Dinner, which honors donors and introduces them to students
who benefit from their gifts.
Dr. Cafferty and her husband, Don McAllister Jr., a retired business publisher,
attended a class dinner earlier in the year at which Dr. Vagelos spoke of the Legacy
Challenge. She planned on making a legacy gift to P&S. She did not realize, however,
as her husband explained to the guests, that “the enthusiasm and salesmanship of Dr.
Vagelos … persuaded me on the spot to supplement Maureen’s gift to fund a partial
scholarship in her honor.”
“I was so surprised and happy,” she says of her husband’s announcement. “He’s
just been so impressed with P&S that he decided to do this, unbeknownst to me, and
I was so appreciative of it. I love P&S and all it’s done for me.”
Dr. Cafferty is chair of her class and has been an active P&S alumnus for many
years. A neurologist at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital since 1985, she is assistant clinical
professor of neurology at P&S and mother of triplet teenagers.
When asked about her time at P&S, Dr. Cafferty speaks with great reverence
for her instructors, notably Dr. Linda Lewis in neurology and Vincent Butler’54 in
immunology, her advisers; Abbie Knowlton’42, Jane Morse’55, and, “of course, Dr.
Glenda Garvey’69. None of us can forget her.”
“Being exposed to teachers like that made the experience at P&S just tremendous,”
she says.
She hopes her gift, and her husband’s gift, will make it possible for others to experience
wonderful role models and teachers. “That’s what I hope – that students who
might not otherwise have the means to go to P&S get that opportunity.”
Spring 2012 ColumbiaMedicine 41