Northwestern gave Craig Baskin (Kellogg ’86) more than an education. He received treatment for his psoriatic arthritis from Dr. Eric Ruderman, a rheumatologist in the Feinberg School of Medicine.
In gratitude, Baskin donated $100,000 in 2025 to support a fellowship program in the department of rheumatology.
“I managed to save more than I spent, and I felt it was important for me to give something back,” Baskin said. “Healthcare is not a commodity and not every doctor is created equal, and Dr. Ruderman is one of the finest rheumatologists around.”
NU received more than $500 million in donations in 2024. While these donations vary widely in size and frequency, there are alumni who consistently give tuition-sized contributions.
In wake of the $790 million funding freeze by the Trump administration, Baskin said his contribution feels even more significant.
“There are labs doing work that have to shut down because the money isn’t coming in,” Baskin said. “If you’ve been doing a project over a period of months or years … and all of the sudden you lose your funding, it’s sort of like flushing a couple of years of work down the drain. It’s really terrible.”
Along with research, alumni donations also fund academic scholarships, providing students with financial support throughout their time at the University.
Classmates Drew Fine (Pritzker ’87) and Scott Zucker (Pritzker ’87) established a memorial fund in honor of their late classmate and friend John Taros (Pritzker ’87).
“We’re able to both at the same time give back and provide opportunities to future students, but also honor a classmate who is unfortunately no longer with us,” Fine said.
Dennis LaPidus (McCormick ’64) endows NU baseball’s head coaching position. He said he does not expect anything in return for his donations.
“It would be very egotistical to think that I know more about running a university than the president and the deans,” LaPidus said.
Fine said he feels his contribution provides him with more connection to campus.
For the John Taros JD ’87 Memorial Scholarship, Fine, Zucker and Taros’ parents receive a personal letter from the recipient each year.
“At Northwestern at least, it’s not like you give money and never hear about it again,” Fine said. “Instead, they tell you who is getting the scholarship each year, and they connect you to the person receiving the scholarship and you make a personal connection, so that helps a lot.”
Contributions can also be motivated by the experiences alumni had on campus. For LaPidus, donating to the athletic department was a more logical choice than the academic side of NU.
When he was a student here, LaPidus played on the baseball team and has been a season ticket holder for years. In addition to the coaching position, LaPidus has dedicated a dugout and multiple basketball scholarships in honor of his parents.
“The fact that Northwestern academically is a fine institution gives me less joy than the sports, so that’s part of the reason I’d rather give it to the sports program as opposed to the academics,” LaPidus said.
Similar to LaPidus, Zucker said he donates to education because that’s what impacted him the most as a student.
With financial uncertainty continuing to affect the University’s capacity to operate, Baskin said he believes his donation is more important than ever.
“I feel that I have some sort of obligation to do something good with the proceeds of my work,” Baskin said.
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Bluesky: @ywzreports.bsky.social
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