Dayton Daily News: Founding member of Wright State’s Boonshoft School of Medicine leaves the school $1.7 million

A gift from the late William A. Bernie, M.D., will support scholarships for medical students at Wright State’s Boonshoft School of Medicine.

A local doctor and a founding member of the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine left the school a gift of $1.7 million as part of his estate, which will go toward funding scholarships for medical students.

Dr. William A. Bernie, of Dayton and Naples, Fla., died on Nov. 20, 2023, after a long struggle with illness, his obituary said.

“We are thankful to Bill for his incredibly generous gift. It will make a tremendous difference to our medical students and help alleviate student debt,” said Dr. Gregory Toussaint, interim dean of the Boonshoft School of Medicine.

Bernie, who was also a former faculty member at Boonshoft, had a 20-year career as a surgeon before later retiring from active surgery to go into research and development at Johnson & Johnson, where he worked on developing minimally invasive surgical equipment.

“Throughout his distinguished career, Bill was a surgical leader and innovator,” Toussaint said. “We are indebted to him for his contributions as one of the founding members of our medical school.”

Bernie was a volunteer faculty member for more than 30 years, serving as an assistant clinical professor at Wright State, where he was a founding member of Wright State’s Department of Surgery.

“Dr. Bernie’s estate gift will help fund this scholarship for generations of medical students to come,” said Wright State University President Sue Edwards.

Read the complete article at daytondailynews.com.