Giving

Peter "Shep" Brock in Woodstock, Vermont

Photo by Rob Strong

Family Values

By Lauren Seidman and Nancy Shohet West

Family traditions are as varied and colorful as families themselves. People pass down beloved recipes, treasured heirlooms, and holiday customs. Values, too, are passed down, nurtured by each generation. When one of those values is generosity, the act of giving becomes second nature to family members—and countless people benefit.

This past summer, family traditions of giving to the Geisel School of Medicine deepened with two generous donations in support of student scholarships. Peter “Shep” Brock followed in the footsteps of his parents and grandparents—loyal donors to the Dartmouth medical community since 1947—by establishing the Peter R. Brock Leadership Scholars Endowment Fund in loving memory of his father, Peter. Mark R. Lena D ’78, MED ’81—a third-generation physician and son of Dartmouth Medical School alumnus Paul J. Lena D ’50, MED ’51—saw his late father’s dream realized with the establishment of the Hugh F. Lena Sr. Memorial Scholarship Fund, an estate gift in honor of his grandfather.

Gifts to scholarships at Geisel impact not only the students who are relieved of some debt but also the thousands of patients who receive care from those future physicians. This is important to both the Brocks and the Lenas: that their acts of generosity will ripple out into the world—and that they may inspire others to give, just as their families inspired them.