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Columbia university mediCal Center
“Not
College
Material”
“i
grew up on the back of a horse in rural Milton, Massachusetts, and
for a while my family despaired of my ever doing anything except
ride and ski,” says Virginia Biddle, MD’65. “I was kicked out of
a whole slew of schools and lasted only two years in nursing school
before being expelled for breaking minor rules, like getting in after
curfew.” One school told her parents she was not college material, but
she graduated junior college with highest scholastic honors!
Virginia became a registered medical technologist and nine years
after the atomic bomb was dropped in Japan, she went to Nagasaki
as medical director of a research lab for the Atomic Bomb Casualty
Commission. That led her to realize she needed more education,
either in laboratory science or, perhaps, medicine.
She was accepted into the College of Physicians and Surgeons and
graduated in 1965. Two years later, she opened her own practice in
internal medicine on Cape Cod.
Virginia’s adventurous nature led her to earn her Coast Guard captain’s
license for up to 60-foot auxiliary sailboats and, paired with a
lifelong love of wooden boats, resulted in a WoodenBoat magazine
cover story about “Saga” in 1982; she authored the cover story and
articles in other issues.
Virginia has always been a supporter of P&S and decided to fund
a Charitable Remainder Trust as a way of repaying her gratitude to
P&S for putting her on the path to a career in medicine.
The Charitable Remainder Trust, which can be funded with a minimum
of $100,000, will provide income and an initial tax benefit to
Virginia Biddle. Upon her death the remaining assets in the Trust will
be added to her Class of 1965 50th Anniversary Scholarship Fund or
may fund an endowed scholarship in her name. She funded the Charitable
Remainder Trust in 2011, making the contribution eligible for
the Legacy Challenge match that added to Virginia’s Class fund.
Virginia Biddle, who took an unusual path to medicine, found a
way to support the school that discovered the college material in her
and set her up for a rewarding career.
Virginia Biddle, Md’65
For additional information about
Charitable Remainder Trusts and other
planned giving options contact:
Laura R. Tenenbaum
Director of Development
212.342.2108
lrt2113@columbia.edu
Visit http://www.psalumni.cumc.columbia.edu/
today to learn more.