Dr. Samuel & Mrs. Penny Nagel Gift $75,000 for Scholarships

To Honor Memory of His Parents, Ben & Ethel Nagel

"We lived above my parents' grocery store in Detroit when I was growing up during the Depression, and the experiences I had working in that store had a big impact on my life, including my decision to get a good education and, ultimately, this decision to gift funds for scholarships for dental students," said Dr. Samuel Nagel (DDS 1954).

"They worked from seven o'clock in the morning until midnight, seven days a week so I could get a good education," he said. "They also taught me about treating people kindly and gave me some important lessons about life."

The gift from the Nagels, who have been married for 50 years, will be bolstered with matching funds from U-M President Mary Sue Coleman's Donor Challenge program. The program leverages gifts of up to $1 million with a contribution of 50 cents for every dollar gifted. Pledges must be made before December 31, 2008.

The Nagels' $75,000 gift will be matched with $37,500 in Donor Challenge funds, bringing the total gift value to $112,500.

As he talked about his dental education, Nagel said, "the cost back then was nothing compared to what the costs are today. I want our gift to make a difference." He said he had been considering gifting and "wanted to give back to an organization that was especially good to me."

His 50-year reunion with his School of Dentistry classmates in the fall of 2004 spurred him along.

"As I toured the preclinic with some of my former classmates, I was impressed with how technology is being used today and the caliber of the dental students I had a chance to talk to," he said.

Nagel said the School of Dentistry "was a good environment. It was competitive, stimulating, and kept me focused. Dentistry gave me the opportunity to make a living and meet many different people, in much the same way I did when I worked for my parents in their grocery store."