Ruth Gottesman, a 93-year-old former professor at the institution. Dr. Gottesman announced the groundbreaking news in a video shared on Monday, revealing that starting in August this year, students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine will not have to pay tuition.

This donation, one of the largest to an educational institution in the US, was made by Dr. Gottesman's late husband, David Gottesman, also known as Sandy. Sandy Gottesman made his fortune through investments in Berkshire Hathaway, the multinational conglomerate founded by Warren Buffett. When Sandy passed away at the age of 96 in 2022, he entrusted Dr. Gottesman with a significant stock portfolio and left her with the autonomy to use it as she saw fit.

Expressing her swift decision to support students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine with free tuition, Dr. Gottesman emphasized her goal of easing the financial burden on graduates and making medical education more accessible to a wider range of candidates. Currently, half of the most recent class at Einstein are New Yorkers, with 59% being women and the majority identifying as people of color. These students typically graduate with higher debt levels compared to peers at other medical schools in NYC.

In response to the transformative gift, Dr. Philip Ozuah, the president and chief executive of Montefiore Einstein, the entity overseeing Einstein College and the Montefiore Health System, expressed profound gratitude to Dr. Gottesman. In a statement, Dr. Ozuah acknowledged the historic nature of the donation and highlighted the importance of ensuring access to education as a pathway to excellence in healthcare.