Three-Generation Legacy Inspires Giving
College sweethearts Boris Meditch '42 and Marian Young Meditch '42 support undergraduates and research to honor family connections
When Boris Meditch '42 followed his older sister, the late Janet Meditch Rommel '38, to Northwestern University, he never imagined that they were beginning a three-generation Meditch legacy and enduring connection to the University.
Boris met his late wife, Marian Young Meditch '42, when they served as junior prom representatives for their respective fraternity and sorority. "School politics brought us together," Boris says. The dance was a success, raising enough money to get Benny Goodman, "the King of Swing," to perform.
Boris and Marian married on graduation day in 1942. Boris enlisted in the Navy, and he and his new bride moved to Abbott Hall, part of Northwestern's Chicago campus. Boris attended naval intelligence training in Chicago prior to receiving a commission and serving as a navigator on an aircraft carrier, and he received his bachelor's degree in English in absentia in 1943.
The couple later settled in Boris's hometown of Indianapolis, where Boris managed National Wholesale Grocery, a company founded by his father. Boris and Marian became active members of the Indianapolis community, volunteering through numerous organizations, including the NU Club of Indianapolis.
The Meditches' connection to Northwestern deepened when their daughter Andrea Meditch '70 attended the School of Communication and again when Andrea's daughter Alexandra Goodwin '14 MD attended the Feinberg School of Medicine. Boris says he is extremely proud of his family's Northwestern legacy. "The whole family revels in the Northwestern experiences we have had over the years," he says. "The University gave me the opportunity to expand and lead, which allowed me to become confident in myself."
At the suggestion of their financial adviser, the Meditches established a charitable remainder trust—a popular planned giving vehicle that provides income to individuals for their lifetimes or a term of years. After the term ends, the funds remaining in the trust are distributed to charities that the donors choose to support—which, in the Meditches' case, included Northwestern. Once received, their generous gift will create the Marian Y. and Boris E. Meditch Research Fellowship Fund in Molecular Biosciences in memory of Marian's parents, Anna M. and Ferdinand H. Young. Marian's father was the chairman of Abbott Laboratories International and one of the company's original employees, and to honor his life's work, Boris and Marian chose to create a student research fund in the Department of Molecular Biosciences.
"The Department of Molecular Biosciences has a dual mission: cutting-edge 'discovery-based basic science research' and training the next generation of scientists, both undergraduates and graduate students," explains Carole LaBonne, chair of the department. "Investments in this essential foundation of our biomedical research enterprise and in our students help lead to transformative biomedical breakthroughs, and it is so gratifying when people like the Meditches recognize this and support it."
The Meditches have been donors to Northwestern for many years. Boris is now a platinum-level member of NU Loyal, which recognizes consistent support of Northwestern, with 40 total years of giving to the University. The Meditches also established a charitable gift annuity at Northwestern to support their research fund. Like a charitable remainder trust, a charitable gift annuity provides the beneficiaries with income for life. For Boris and Marian, these gifts gave them the opportunity to provide vital support for an institution that means so much to their family.
For more information about charitable remainder trusts and charitable gift annuities, please contact Northwestern Gift Planning at 800-826-6709 or giftplanning@northwestern.edu.