In the 1950s, an era when osteopathic physicians were viewed by some as inferior to allopathic physicians, Murray Goldstein, D.O. ’50, M.P.H., blazed trails. He was the first osteopathic physician to be appointed as a commissioned medical officer in the uniformed services (the U.S. Public Health Service, in 1953); the first D.O. to achieve star rank (two-star admiral); the first admitted to a U.S. school of public health and to a fellowship at Mayo Clinic; and the first to receive a U.S. Presidential Letter of Commendation, among several other “firsts.”
“Wherever I went, I always identified myself as an osteopathic physician,” he says. “That was very important to me.”
A World War II veteran and recipient of the U.S. Army’s Silver Star and Purple Heart, Dr. Goldstein also was the first D.O. appointed to an institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He helped change lives and mindsets in roles such as director of the NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and of the United Cerebral Palsy Research and Educational Foundation.
Opening doors is a theme of Dr. Goldstein’s support of DMU, too. His gifts are unrestricted, which allows University leaders to direct his dollars to where they can have the most powerful impact. His most recent support, a gift made through his estate, was the one that pushed the University’s Purple & Proud Campaign over its $25 million goal one year before the expected conclusion of the fundraising effort in December 2020.
“I support physically, emotionally and economically, Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences because I think it is doing an excellent job and has the potential for doing an extraordinary job,” he says. “I wouldn’t be doing what I did without it, and so I’m grateful.”
Students, of course, are another big reason Dr. Goldstein supports the University.
“The pleasure I get out of it is I know that some students who would have difficulty and be troubled with the ability to raise the money to pay for tuition and books, that I am helping them and they can complete their education without that tremendous burden every year,” he says. “I get a degree of pleasure out of knowing I’m helping them make it.”
Like Dr. Goldstein, you can make a gift in your will or other estate plan to ensure that DMU can continue to train the next generation of osteopathic physicians and health providers. Contact Stephanie Greiner, M.S. at stephanie.greiner@dmu.edu or (515) 271-1386 to learn more.
Dr. Murray Goldstein reflects on giving to the Purple & Proud Campaign