Home >

Meet Our Donors - Ferdinand G. Weisbrod, M.D. ’42, G.M. ’50

Ferdinand G. Weisbrod, M.D. ’42, G.M. ’50, remembers reading about the life of the industrialist/ philanthropist Andrew Carnegie during his undergraduate years at Penn. He never forgot Carnegie’s personal philosophy about wealth: Give money to your children but “don’t overdo it – too much money can make them soft and non-productive.” Instead, Carnegie advised, leave most of your wealth to philanthropy.

“I decided then that if ever I achieved some sort of wealth that I would present it to the University – the place that was so important to me in finding my place in the world,” says Weisbrod.

Throughout the next six decades, Weisbrod married, had three children, and embarked on careers in medicine and real estate. A combination of timing and talent led to his switch from medicine to real estate. In the early 1970s, problems with the family real estate holdings led Weisbrod to try his hand at the field. He figured he could do a better job of managing the properties than the professionals. He was right. What began as a side job eventually became an all-consuming second career; taking advantage of a booming real estate market, he eventually acquired 35 properties. Then, in December, he created two charitable remainder trusts that will ultimately fund a professorship in the School of Medicine’s Division of Gastroenterology, his original field of interest.

“There are so many exciting things happening in medicine today,” he says. “The pace of discovery is accelerating all the time.”

Weisbrod’s generous gift also serves him well. In addition to obtaining a generous current income tax deduction, he will receive a lifetime income stream from the charitable remainder trusts.

In his philanthropy, Weisbrod also hopes to impart the lesson he learned from Carnegie. “I think it’s important to steer all Penn graduates toward a policy of giving gifts to the University, rather than to Uncle Sam – and also to avoid giving too much to your children,” he says. “Money can create more problems than it solves. But the gifts to the University are going to solve problems.”

Weisbrod’s planned gift is just one of the creative gift opportunities that would benefit both the School of Medicine and its alumni.