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Christian Messa Dean of UTMB’s School of Medicine
establishes scholarship for medical students GALVESTON, Texas — When Dr. Valerie M. Parisi joined the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston last October as the first female dean of UTMB’s School of Medicine, one of the first university functions she attended was a student scholarship luncheon. The fall event allowed scholarship recipients in the schools of Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences to meet the individuals who established their awards. The new dean was impressed. “To sit with the medical students and the benefactors who created their scholarships was one of the most touching events I have seen in my long medical career,” said Parisi, also a professor in UTMB’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “I’ve never known an academic health center that has done that kind of awards ceremony, and it was clearly so important to the students, their families and the contributors to have the opportunity to be together that day.” The event made such a lasting impression on Parisi that it moved her to establish a scholarship in memory of her father, who died two years ago at age 87. The William S. Parisi Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to outstanding UTMB medical students who need financial assistance to continue their education. Scholarship support is especially appreciated among medical students — the average debt after four years of study at a U.S. medical school is approximately $120,000. “My father was willing to sacrifice to support me through medical school,” Parisi said. “I have the opportunity now, in his name, to help other people finish medical school, and that’s more important than anything else.” William Parisi immigrated to the United States from Italy as a child. “He was an attorney, and he worked very hard to become one, going to law school at night and working during the day,” Valerie Parisi said. “He grew up in an immigrant family of eight children, where his father made $30 a week.” Parisi said her father actually wanted to become a physician but forfeited his dream after discovering that evening medical school classes were not available. She recalled his strong belief in education and how, when she was 3 or 4 years old, he taught her how to spell, read and even play chess. “He cared about education, and that was instilled in me at a very early age. Any opportunity that I had to learn was an opportunity not to be missed.” Parisi’s scholarship supports UTMB’s Family Matters campaign. The five-year, $25 million initiative enables university employees and retirees to financially contribute to an area of personal significance within the academic health center’s educational, clinical or research programs. Family Matters, in turn, is part of the university’s Timeless Values, Pioneering Solutions campaign, a five-year, $250 million fund-raising initiative to enhance areas of excellence in teaching the art and science of health care; infectious diseases, biodefense and vaccine development; health care access and telehealth; and longevity, chronic diseases and neurological recovery. UTMB President John D. Stobo praised Parisi for contributing to the Family Matters initiative. “Dr. Parisi is providing a particularly inspiring philanthropic example for our university community,” Stobo said. “She has set a high standard for the campaign, and for that I am grateful.” When she attends the next UTMB scholarship luncheon this fall, Parisi said the event will be bittersweet. “I know the hardest part will be when I have the privilege to go to the luncheon and sit with the student who will be the beneficiary and to think of my dad,” she said. “That will be difficult, but it makes me so happy to be able to help somebody else go to medical school and have less of a burden at the end of the day.” Parisi is one of only 14 women nationwide who serve as deans among the nation’s 125 medical schools. Prior to joining UTMB, she chaired the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and served as obstetrician/gynecologist-in-chief at North Carolina Women’s Hospital. Parisi chaired the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the State University of New York at Stony Brook from 1994 to 1997. Parisi began her administrative medical career in 1984 as the director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston, where she also directed the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship Program. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native earned her medical degree as part of the first graduating class of Brown University’s medical school in 1975. Parisi completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Women’s and Infants’ Hospital of Rhode Island, as well as her fellowship training in maternal and fetal medicine at the University of Wisconsin Center for Health Sciences. Parisi also holds a Master of Public Health degree in maternal and child health from the University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler School of Business. She is married to Gary Strong, a commercial airline pilot. UTMB
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