Galen V. Henderson MD’93 and Vanessa M. Britto MD MMSc’96 met at a conference on Brown’s campus in the fall of 1989 and started dating after a couple of years. When they became engaged, Britto had an idea: “Because we wanted the same people at our wedding and at Galen’s medical school graduation, we thought, ‘Why not do this crazy mashup?’ So we were married on Sunday and graduation was on Monday.”

Twenty-five years later, educating the next generation of Brown medical students is a value they both share. As they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and Galen’s medical school reunion, they established a medical school scholarship and asked guests to donate to it instead of gifts. “We feel strongly about education and about students. And we’re grateful for the opportunities we’ve had. People helped and supported us along the way. Now we want to help support the next generation.”

In addition to an endowed scholarship, Henderson and Britto have provided for the University in their wills. “The gifts were in our estate plan long before the University asked us to participate, and we think there are other graduates who might also be willing to make a difference in students’ lives.”