Stephen Slogoff ’64, dean emeritus of the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago, says he is grateful to Franklin & Marshall College for accepting him—an orphan from Philadelphia who didn’t have the money for higher education.
“My dad died when I was young. If F&M hadn’t taken a chance on me, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he says. “I owe it all to F&M … I wanted to learn, but if F&M had not given me scholarships, I couldn’t have been there.”
Slogoff arrived at Franklin & Marshall in the fall of 1960 hoping to become an engineer. He was a math major, but he took a class in biology and fell in love with it; he changed his major to pre-med. He joined a fraternity, Zeta Beta Tau, and got a job in the fraternity house kitchen. “I made lifelong friends at F&M,” he says. “My best friend in the world is still a man I met when we were students there.”
Slogoff participated in a special program the College ran that allowed him to start medical school at Thomas Jefferson University during what would have been his senior year at F&M. He married his high school sweetheart, Barbara (Bobbie), who graduated from West Chester University.
He graduated from Jefferson in 1967 and began a residency in anesthesiology with a fellowship in the emerging field of cardiovascular surgery. “In 1968, I gave the anesthetic for the first coronary bypass in the city of Philadelphia,” he says.
Slogoff eventually worked in Texas and Illinois, publishing more than 60 scientific papers and book chapters, and serving a term as president of the American Board of Anesthesiology. He and Bobbie have two daughters—one of whom is a surgeon and one who is in finance—and two granddaughters. He retired from Loyola in 2005.
But he never forgot the life-changing experience he enjoyed so many years ago. Because of that experience, Slogoff has a keen appreciation for the financial aid initiatives at F&M today.
“Students who are smart but can’t afford college… I want my donations to help them get a strong education. And if it builds diversity of all kinds—race, religion, economics—that’s even better. That’s what I support.”
The Slogoffs have been loyal donors to the Franklin & Marshall Fund for a long time. In honor of his 50th Reunion, they established an endowed scholarship to provide financial aid to promising young people in perpetuity. The first donation to their endowed fund was a rollover gift from Slogoff’s IRA; more contributions will follow in the next few years. In addition, Slogoff’s IRA beneficiary designation form stipulates that after both he and Bobbie have passed away, one third of the remaining funds will be added to their scholarship endowment.
“F&M was a wonderful experience for me,” Slogoff says. “I was in a fraternity, I played intramural sports, and I got an education. I want to make that possible for future students.”
To learn how to craft your own legacy gift to F&M, contact Mary Ann M. Cooke, J.D., '90, at mcooke@fandm.edu or 717-358-4821.