While Allan Scott (A&S ’63, MED ’67) was still in residency at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, a former classmate from Pitt called him up and asked for a donation to the University.
“I said, ‘But I haven’t paid off my medical school loans yet.’ My friend countered with, ‘Can’t you give $20?’” said Scott acting out the conversation from five decades ago. “I said, ‘Hell, I can do that; I thought you wanted thousands.”
Scott gave $100 that year, putting him in the Century Club, which is roughly equivalent to today's Chancellor’s Circle.
Like so many of his generation, no one in Scott’s immediate family had continued their education beyond high school, and only a few extended family members had gone to college. That’s why it was such good news when he landed a United States Steel-sponsored scholarship to attend Carnegie Tech. It’s also why his parents were a bit upset when two years later, he forfeited his scholarship with his decision to transfer to Pitt in the hopes of eventually going to the University’s medical school.
Scott enrolled in Pitt’s chemistry program partially because he had heard a rumor that you had to know someone to get into med school—and he clearly knew no one with that influence. Scott figured if he did not become a doctor, there would still be plenty of opportunities for him in chemistry. The nation was in a technology race with the Soviets, and there were federally-funded research positions in the sciences.
Scott did well at Pitt and was eventually accepted into the medical school. To help cover his tuition, he was a dorm counselor in Towers A, which had just opened. But, that was still not enough to meet his expenses.
“There was no break in the academics between the last two years of medical school, which meant I could not work over the summer to pay my bills,” he recalls. “I had less than $100 in my bank account, and I did not know what I was going to do. To my relief, Pitt gave me a scholarship for tuition and a $1,000 loan to cover living expenses.”
That help allowed Scott to finish at Pitt Med.
Scott showed a natural talent for ophthalmology while interning at Walter Reed Medical Center. After a stint in the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Scott landed a fellowship in the ophthalmic pathology program at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, which was associated with Johns Hopkins, and from there enjoyed a long and successful career as an ophthalmologist in Baltimore.
Scott retired in 2014 and continues to live in the Baltimore area—though he retained his love of the Steelers rather than adopting the Ravens.
Pitt was so generous with me, especially while I was in medical school. – Allan Scott
In 2020, a long-time friend and Pitt Trustee Alfred Moyé (A&S ’68G) traveled to Baltimore to visit with Scott. While he was there, Moyé suggested that Scott endow a named scholarship.
Although he had given regularly over the intervening years, much like when his friend asked for his first gift to Pitt, Scott's first reaction was that a named scholarship would involve more money than it does.
“I was surprised to learn I could endow and name a scholarship with a $100,000 gift,” Scott said.
Inspired by Moyé, Scott donated $200,000 to create twin scholarships in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and in the School of Medicine. Both scholarships give preference to students from Southwestern Pennsylvania.
“Pitt was so generous with me, especially while I was in medical school. I still wonder how they knew exactly what I needed to complete my studies,” Scott said.
Sitting with his Old English Sheepdog, Scott contemplates the thought of him nudging someone else who might be in a position to make a gift to Pitt.
“I can’t tell others what to do with their money, but, as for me, it’s the right thing to do and I get a good feeling out of it,” he said. “I was checking online recently and I found that there are no pockets in shrouds. You can’t take it with you.”