Lifelong Friends Establish a Scholarship for Medical Students

David Morowitz and Alan Morris

A bequest from David Morowitz and beneficiary designation from Alan Morris will establish the Morowitz-Morris Scholarship in the College of Medicine.

The two met on their first day of college as undergrads at the University of Illinois, Urbana campus. Though the two 17-year-old pre-medical roommates shared plenty of coincidental similarities, both of background and their interest in medicine, their personalities couldn’t have been more different.

“I remember being awestruck the first night in our dorm with the way Alan hung his trousers,” David recalls. “They were suspended upside down by the cuffs from his top drawer so his pants wouldn’t crease or wrinkle. Alan is and has always been disciplined—so organized, prompt, and methodical.”

David, on the other hand, according to Alan, is a modern day Renaissance man—someone passionate about music, art, and literature. The most important thing to know about David, Alan explains, is that he’s an extraordinary physician because he’s someone who understands human sensitivity and strives to extend his compassion to patients.

Both men credit their 63 years of friendship and UIC’s “hands-on” approach to medical education for their transformation from students to the distinguished physicians they became, David specializing in gastroenterology and Alan in orthopedic surgery. Though practicing different specialties, when asked what future scholarship recipients should keep in mind, both answered identically that science and humanism, together, should be guides to a successful professional career.

“We both received a top-tier education that was so inexpensive compared to current costs,” Alan said. “We’ve already done just about everything together, so we decided we should pool our resources and create this scholarship together!”