NEW ORLEANS – The LSU Health New Orleans Foundation has received a $7.5 million gift from the estate of Marcia and Billy Beer. It is the largest gift in the foundation’s history.
The endowed donation will support four-year tuition scholarships to LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine. The scholarships will be funded by the interest earned on the gift, leaving the principal intact to grow for new scholarships forever. They will allow qualified students who would otherwise be unable to afford medical school to become physicians.
“This transformative gift will allow the foundation to provide ten full medical school tuition scholarships to the LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine in perpetuity,” said Steve Nelson, interim chancellor of LSU Health New Orleans.
The donation was announced by Nelson along with Michael Flick, friend and colleague of Marcia and Billy Beer; Brian P. Jakes, chairman and interim CEO of the LSU Health New Orleans Foundation; Al Bienvenue, vice chairman of the LSU Health New Orleans Foundation; and Dr. Angela McLean, associate dean of admissions at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine.
The gift agreement contains a unique request from the Beers: that each scholarship recipient offers one day of free medical care each month to a patient unable to afford care.
The Beer scholarships will become effective for the 2024 incoming class. The scholarship applications will be reviewed by the LSU Health New Orleans Foundation Development Committee, and the scholarships will be awarded, upon approval, by a separate, independent Scholarship Committee utilizing a sophisticated Awards Management System (AMS).
“These scholarships will permit the admissions department to attract Louisiana applicants who are offered scholarships by out-of-state medical schools that often have greater scholarship resources,” said McLean. “This gift helps level the playing field, and the Marcia and Billy Beer legacy will live through the talented medical students fortunate enough to receive this extraordinarily generous scholarship gift.”
Billy Beer had a career in finance, and Marcia Beer was an executive vice president of a local bank before Billy’s illness again connected him to LSU Health New Orleans. The care he received from LSU Health physicians throughout his adult life managing his polio and post-polio syndrome inspired the couple to name the LSU Health Sciences Foundation as a beneficiary of their estate.
“Over the years, Christina South, director of development for the LSU Health New Orleans Foundation, and Dr. Nelson became close friends with Julie and me and with Marcia and Billy Beer,” said Flick. “They were instrumental in ensuring that the wishes of the Beer gift were fulfilled, and their legacy of giving would improve the health of many.”
