Irene and Raymond Kwok-Tom
As one of 12 siblings growing up in Oakland, Raymond Tom learned to "eat fast." Today, he still gets things done quickly.
The energetic 1962 UCSF graduate recently gave generously to the School of Medicine to honor his 50th reunion - six years early.
"I promised myself that if I lived to attend my 50th reunion, I'd donate $50,000," says Tom, a retired anesthesiologist.
The funds from Tom and his wife, Irene Kwok-Tom, will enable UCSF to launch a student exchange program with the prestigious Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China.
After graduating from UC Berkeley and a brief foray into engineering, Tom decided to pursue medicine. "I considered law, but I wasn't a talker," he laughs. Tom worked at Saint Francis Hospital in San Francisco until retiring in 1994.
The volunteer and philanthropy bug bit Tom years ago when he traveled with colleagues to the Philippines to repair cleft palates in children. "It made them happy, their parents happy and their grandparents happy," he recalls. "I was hooked."
For the next 20 years, he volunteered doing reconstructive surgery in Brazil, Nepal, Micronesia and other countries. Wanting to broaden his efforts, Tom started Help N Hands Across the Seas in the late 1980s. The foundation supports educational, community and medical projects in China. "The country was very poor at the time," he notes of the land where he can trace his roots back 33 generations.
Through their foundation, the Toms - passionate believers in education - have paid for eight impoverished children from Guangdong province to attend middle school through college. Two are now pursuing graduate studies at Sun Yat-sen University and Beijing University. The foundation has also helped Tom's ancestral village build a community center, among other efforts. "I like small, hands-on projects, where I can see results," he says.
With their knowledge of Chinese culture and protocol, the Toms helped arrange invaluable introductions between officials at Sun Yat-sen University and UCSF. Their gift will enable several UCSF students to travel to southern China for eight weeks to observe clinical rotations at the highly regarded institution. In turn, several Sun Yat-sen students will be able to journey to UCSF for the same experience.
"UCSF gave me a good education and an opportunity to give back to the world," Tom says. "Now I want to give back to UCSF."
For more information about supporting the UCSF School of Medicine, contact
Lyn Oswald at 415/502-8377.
Source: Anne Kavanagh
