Richard Meese (’76 MA L&S, ’78 PhD L&S)

Future of Health Care in Hands of Today's Students

The Abbott Fund is committed to universities that are sources of professional, managerial and technical personnel for the health-care industry. The company’s support of the Chancellor’s Scholarship Program demonstrates that level of commitment.

Founded more than 100 years ago, Abbott discovers, develops, manufactures and markets health-care products and services. The company focuses on areas with the greatest unmet medical need, such as oncology, infectious diseases, diabetes, obesity, immunology and cardiovascular disease.

“The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a critical partner with the Abbott Fund from a number of different perspectives. The core reason why we support UW-Madison is the numerous programs that translate science into lasting contributions to health,” said Christi Lehner, director, university relations, Abbott. “Scholarships like the Chancellor’s Scholarship provide the people capable of making these contributions.”

The Chancellor’s Scholarship Program remains one of the University’s most successful outreach efforts. It currently supports 177 underrepresented ethnic minority scholars on the basis of academic merit and leadership involvement. Their full-tuition scholarships and book stipends are renewable up to four years with satisfactory academic achievement, desired progress toward degree completion and participation in program activities. Each scholar is paired with a faculty/staff mentor throughout his/her undergraduate career, and they give back through volunteer service and leadership in the program and on campus.

“We are delighted with the Abbott Fund’s continued support of our scholars. Many pursue majors in medicine, pharmacy, nursing and other health-care professions. They are particularly interested in the focus on diseases with higher incidence in their underrepresented groups and the poor in general” said Mercile Lee, assistant vice chancellor and program director.

The Abbott Fund is an Illinois not-for-profit, philanthropic corporation established by Abbott. The Fund is primarily designed to provide support through cash grants to recipients with interests consistent with Abbott’s basic philanthropic policies and objectives.