Sustaining the Flame: The Nelson Award

Medicine has been more than a lifelong profession for former CU School of Medicine Dean of Students and faculty member Nancy Nelson ('55, '59). It has been a family tradition.
Above: A 1950s School of
Medicine photo of Nancy
Nelson.
Nancy's grandfather considered himself among the first to specialize in pediatric medicine. Her father was a Longmont physician; when a patient could not afford services, he might accept apples, venison, even bear meat in lieu of cash. "I'd make house calls with my father. We'd go out to farms, and I helped with a home delivery of a migrant beet worker's baby when I was 10 years old," recalls Nancy's brother, Jim Nelson ('57, '63).

Nancy, Jim, and their brother William ('62, '66) all attended the CU School of Medicine, and each achieved prominence in the field.

Nancy was the first female head of the Denver Medical Society and the first female chief resident in pediatrics under renowned pediatrician Benjamin Spock in Cleveland. Nancy and Jim recalled an era in which front-line pediatricians treated a range of conditions now treated primarily by subspecialists, such as leukemia, seizure disorders, and cystic fibrosis.

Though the Nelson family had not been wealthy, scholarships enabled both Nancy and Jim to attend CU. "When we were in medical school, we were poor but not in debt. That would have been impossible at that time: who would give us a loan or a credit card?" Jim says.

A Focus on Primary Care
But now, with most medical students relying heavily on loans, the Nelsons see the burden of debt steering students toward higher-paying subspecialties rather than front-line primary care. This burden can inhibit individuals with modest means from pursuing medical school at all.

So in 2009, Nancy and Jim made gifts to establish the Nelson Award to honor their father's medical service. "It was designed to help selected medical school graduates taking primary care residencies in pediatrics, family practice, and internal medicine, students who won't be able to pay off their debts as rapidly as those going into some lucrative subspecialty," Jim says.

Nancy has made a significant estate commitment to enable the award to have an even greater impact in the future. Jim and Nancy have been very pleased with the first three medical students to have received the award. "It was a tremendous honor," says recent Nelson Award recipient Megan Tripp-Addison ('06). "The generosity of the Nelson family has been extremely helpful in reducing the amount of student debt I accrued in medical school."

Jim emphasizes that while the award does reduce financial burden, "it is not a reward for being poor... The Nelson Award is a recognition of achievement."

Ultimately, the award celebrates the high caliber of the CU School of Medicine, and the generous spirit of the Nelson family.

"I like people," Nancy says.

"I became a doctor to help people," Jim says.

Thanks to the Nelson Award, these sentiments will continue to echo in tomorrow's clinics, and at the CU School of Medicine.