June 5, 2025
by Dave Scheiber 

Jenny Chen, a first-year student at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, will forever remember the surreal moment she opened her email and saw the congratulatory subject line. Chen was unaware she was even being considered for the Dr. Jack F. Ross Medical Scholarship when she started classes in 2024, but a jaw-dropping message suddenly filled her screen. 

She would receive $30,000 to help with expenses.

“At the beginning of the school year, the college provided an opportunity for students to write various essays for scholarships, and I didn’t realize this was being submitted for consideration for the Dr. Ross scholarship,” she says. “So I actually didn’t even know about it until I received the email telling me I’d been selected. I started reading it and thought it’s probably not anything. But then I saw the amount and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing!’”

The award flows from the generosity of a man known for his humble manner and complete commitment to the success of USF medical students. When he died in 2019 at age 98, Ross bequeathed $4.1 million to the Morsani College of Medicine, the largest single gift to scholarships in the college’s history. A faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry for 20 years, he started the fund in 1998 with $150,000. 

Now, the Ross Scholarship has grown into life-changing support for talented Morsani College of Medicine students, allowing them to focus on their intensive studies rather than worry about covering the costs of their education. Since 2013, some $750,000 has been awarded from the fund to standout students in the college. 

The power of the Ross scholarship can be felt in numerous ways. One is recruitment, explains Dr. Bryan Bognar, the college’s vice dean of educational affairs.

“The average student we’re recruiting in 2025 is very different than 10 years ago,” he says. “These high-ability students have options, and the chances are we’re not the only medical school they’re admitted to. So the availability of merit-based scholarships, like the one created by Dr. Ross, makes a big difference and frees up other funds for recruitment.”

The Ross scholarship also makes a significant impact with need-based awards. The average debt for students graduating medical school nationally is more than $200,000, which can affect their career choices. 

 “If you’re going to be significantly in debt before you even get started, you may choose a specialty that is likely to be the highest paying, which also tends to be the most competitive,” Bognar says.“So this scholarship might unburden students a bit. If a student has a passion for pediatrics, they may not have to worry as much about paying back.”

There’s a third dynamic to the Ross scholarship as well: inspiring others to give. “Success breeds success,” Bognar says, “so when fellow alumni or whomever see someone like Dr. Ross investing in the Morsani College of Medicine, they may be more apt to pay it forward. Generosity begets generosity.”

For Chen, the Ross scholarship has lifted a substantial weight as she ponders her career field, possibly cardiology or interventional radiology. She isn’t certain what specifically helped her earn the scholarship, though her near 4.0 GPA as an undergraduate at the University of California-Berkeley, coupled with her work raising funds for an organization to support children whose parents have cancer, no doubt helped.

“All I remember is the email said something like, ‘Your academic achievements and potential have not gone unnoticed and we’re proud to recognize your dedication,’” she says. “It was crazy, and I immediately started texting my family and friends.”

Sadly, Chen could not share the exciting news with her mother, who passed away soon after the school year began. But her normally stoic father, an engineer, was elated. “He’s a very stern man, but he was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is tremendous.’ It’s something that has never happened to me before, so getting this is very rewarding.” 

Dr. Steele Fisher, now a third-year resident working at Moffitt Cancer Center, received the Ross scholarship in his second year of medical school after earning his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University. 

“I had just started looking into scholarship opportunities, and there were some really good ones at USF, and I was really excited to learn I’d received this one,” he says. “It’s a very financially difficult time. You’re working extremely hard, studying 10 to 12 hours a day, and you have to pay for medical school. So not having that financial burden constantly in the back of your mind makes a major difference. It really meant a lot to me.”

The scholarship carried extra meaning for the Pinellas County native, who comes from a family of doctors. His father is an interventional radiologist, his grandfather an OB-GYN, his uncle a plastic surgeon and his older brother, who also graduated from Vanderbilt and the Morsani College of Medicine, is a urologist.

“I really like to think I took full advantage of the opportunities the scholarship gave me, and I ended up graduating No. 1 in my class and getting the Dean’s Award,” he says. 

Dr. Andrew Lai is a 2018 Morsani College of Medicine graduate and now in the final year of his fellowship in genitourinary (both the urinary and reproductive systems) reconstructive surgery at the University of Chicago. He vividly recalls the enormous relief he felt upon receiving the Ross scholarship. “All I can tell you is that I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this takes so much pressure off my education.’ I could just focus on learning and studying,” he says. “Medical school is like a pressure cooker, and if you have a financial obligation on top of that, it can be a huge burden.”

Lai will soon be starting his career in northern California working for Kaiser as a urologist, and he credits the scholarship for paving the way. “I 100% would not be here without it,” he says. “It allowed me not to let the financial burden weigh on any of my decisions. And it’s made me want to give back, too. Once I’m established, I absolutely plan on donating to the university.”

It all flows from a doctor these students never knew and who preferred to shun attention. Here’s what is known about him. Originally from Lockport, New York, Ross served in the U.S. Army during World War II, attended medical school at the University of Michigan and went into private psychiatric practice in Cleveland, prior to relocating to Tampa to work in the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital. 

He never married or had children but remained close with his brother and had many good friends amongst his colleagues and neighbors.

An accomplished pianist, his passion for music also led him to create the Jack F. Ross Piano Scholarship at USF’s College of Design, Art and Performance, where he supported the music building fund. 

Friends have noted that he simply wanted to do things quietly. But his vision remains loud and clear — and continues to shape medical students during their time at Morsani College of Medicine and beyond.