Наследие доктора Эдварда Тэппера: более $4,5 млн передано на научные исследования в колледжах Хобарт и Уильям Смит

GENEVA — A Hobart graduate has left a majority of his estate to Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ summer science research programs. Dr. Edward Tapper, who died recently, left the majority of his estate — more than $4.5 million — to Hobart and William Smith. HWS said the gift “builds on Tapper’s longstanding support for hands-on scientific research at HWS and deepens a commitment that began during his own undergraduate career.” “Ed Tapper was a gifted physician, scientist and medical pioneer who understood from his own experience that some of the most formative moments in a scientist’s education happen when a student has the opportunity to work directly with a faculty mentor on a sustained research project,” HWS President Mark Gearan said. “His extraordinary generosity will ensure that HWS students have that opportunity. We are deeply grateful to Ed for his remarkable generosity, his belief in our students and faculty, and his enduring commitment to the sciences.” Tapper, a clinical practitioner and researcher, helped to shape new ideas about how the gut and brain function together, significantly advancing the field of neurogastroenterology, the Colleges said. He established the Edward J. Tapper M.D. ’64 Science Research Fund in 2018 to support hands-on research opportunities for HWS students. HWS said the fund has since supported dozens of students working alongside faculty on projects spanning disciplines including biology, chemistry, geoscience, and physics. In 2022, Tapper reaffirmed his commitment by documenting an anticipated planned gift of more than $1 million to support the fund, explaining that his own research experiences had helped shape his approach to science and his career. The newly realized estate gift will provide a permanent source of support for HWS summer science research, allowing students to engage in intensive research experiences. For Tapper, the importance of that kind of experience was deeply personal. As a high school student, he spent a summer working in a research laboratory at Case Western Reserve University, which helped spark his interest in science and ultimately influenced his decision to pursue a career in medicine and research. At HWS, Tapper found additional encouragement from faculty mentors, including Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Kenneth Carle. “I had fabulous friends and teachers at HWS, not only in the sciences but also in the liberal arts,” Tapper said in 2018. “The individual, close contact with the faculty, great mentoring and the high-quality student body were extremely important to my development.” After graduating from Hobart in 1964, Tapper attended medical school and pursued research at Ohio State University, the University of North Carolina, and the Medical College of Wisconsin. While at UNC completing post-doctoral research, a chance hallway conversation with a National Institute of Health-trained neuropharmacologist led Tapper to a “eureka” moment that resulted in a paradigm shift in the scientific understanding of how the nerves, the mini-brain of the GI tract, function. Tapper’s passion for research and improved patient care led him to develop multiple drugs in the pharmaceutical industry, and the hands-on experience he got early in his career provided the foundation for those breakthroughs, HWS said. His experiences reinforced his belief that scientific education should extend beyond the classroom. “Science is constantly being renewed,” Tapper said. “It is much more than just memorizing a lot of information. It’s a discipline in understanding how new knowledge can be used to improve the world we live in.” HWS said that philosophy has been reflected in the work supported by the Tapper Fund, which has assisted student researchers in a variety of ways, including funding housing, stipends and supplies. Students have pursued projects examining plant evolution and genomics, aquatic ecosystems, urban ecology, habitat fragmentation, algal blooms and microplastics, among other areas. The fund also supports research collaborations with Cornell University faculty at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva. The timing of the gift also connects Tapper’s legacy to a transformative new chapter for science at HWS. The Fish Center for the Sciences, currently under construction, will create a new home for scientific teaching, research and collaboration. The facility is designed around interdisciplinary work, with collaborative laboratory spaces that will bring together students and faculty from across the sciences.