{"467491":{"#nid":"467491","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Marilyn Marks Gift Supports Non-Traditional BME Students","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOnce upon a time, Marilyn Marks worked at the Georgia Institute of Technology, within the Economic Development Institute. Eventually, she left that job and went to work somewhere else, a typical career arc \u2013 things change, we move on, we work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat was more than 20 years ago. But in many ways, she never really left Georgia Tech, and the university never lost its grip on her heart and soul.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInspired by the work of researchers in Tech\u2019s bio-community, especially those affiliated with the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME), she gave what she could to the university through the years. Her $25 gifts became $100 gifts, and so on. And recently, Marilyn solidified her lasting relationship with Tech, establishing a scholarship that will support non-traditional BME students.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBME is doing work that will benefit you personally or someone you know,\u201d Marks says. \u201cBasically, they\u2019re doing work that will let loved ones remain vital, and stay alive as long as they live.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat has become a theme for her life, that notion of being fully alive. In fact, Marks wants the evidence of that on her tombstone (in some far-off future): \u201cWhile alive, she lived.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOf course, that isn\u2019t original with me, but my goodness, what a thought,\u201d she says. \u201cGeorgia Tech and BME will last well past my lifetime, and it could have a lasting impact on my children and grandchildren. It\u2019s that important to me.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMarks came to her realization through hard and heartfelt personal experience. She lost her husband, Ron, to lung cancer almost 10 years ago. Her sister also lost a battle with cancer. Both Marilyn and Ron provided care to their parents late in life, and to Marilyn\u2019s sister. So, she\u2019s seen the toll that an illness can take.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETogether with Ron, she made a commitment, \u201cto support areas that can impact a person\u2019s health, quality of life, and longevity. Whether we\u2019re talking about a child with a brain tumor or an octogenarian, you deserve a wonderful quality of life. And whether that means better ways of prevention, intervention, or even treatment of a terminal illness, I want to support that. It\u2019s ingrained in me.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe\u2019d been collecting articles about research at Georgia Tech and was particularly interested in what was happening in the bio-community. She started giving, a little here, a little there, whatever she could afford. That\u2019s a message she\u2019d like to spread. \u201cIt\u2019s a journey,\u201d she says. \u201cGive what you can while you\u2019re alive, while you can decide what is important to you.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the things that has always been important to Marks is the concept of \u201clifelong learning,\u201d the idea that there isn\u2019t, or shouldn\u2019t be, a strict timeline to learning. This also was culled from personal experience.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer parents moved to this country from Poland in the 1920s, first to New York, then to Atlanta, where they operated a grocery store. Her parents never stopped learning. Her mother knew six languages.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELater on, after Ron retired from a career in advertising, he took college courses for the sheer joy of learning. And Marilyn refers to herself as, \u201ca recycled student. I didn\u2019t get my graduate degree until I\u2019d started working full-time. I understand the concept of having to work to go to school. Some students have to help support their parents, or simply can\u2019t afford college right after high school, and some just aren\u2019t ready for college at 17 or 18.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo, her gift of $150,000 will support BME undergraduate students who aren\u2019t coming directly from high school, or students who are returning to college. In other words, Marks is helping to fill an important gap in the life of a potential world-changing researcher.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are fortunate to count Marilyn Marks amongst our friends,\u201d says Ravi Bellamkonda, who chairs the Coulter Department, a collaborative department of Georgia Tech and Emory. \u201cShe has an infectious enthusiasm, and the gift of being a generous of spirit, lifting up everything she touches. Her gift will have a great impact in making BME more accessible to our students.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBME strives to attract the best, motivated minds, independent of financial status, according to Bellamkonda, who believes that Marks\u2019 generosity helps the department take a step in that direction.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese are often the forgotten students,\u201d Marks says. \u201cThey should not be overlooked. Just think of the lost potential! These are students who some day could make a huge difference in the lives of others.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:wrich@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Donates gift of $150,000 to help support BME undergraduate students"}],"uid":"27513","created_gmt":"2015-11-09 10:59:46","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:54","author":"Walter Rich","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-11-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-11-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"467481":{"id":"467481","type":"image","title":"Marilyn Marks with Ravi Bellamkonda, chair of the biomedical engineering department","body":null,"created":"1449257147","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:25:47","changed":"1475895216","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:36","alt":"Marilyn Marks with Ravi Bellamkonda, chair of the biomedical engineering department","file":{"fid":"203796","name":"marilyn_and_ravi_2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/marilyn_and_ravi_2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/marilyn_and_ravi_2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2261946,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/marilyn_and_ravi_2_0.jpg?itok=IBpttMCe"}}},"media_ids":["467481"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"249","name":"Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"147241","name":"Marilyn Marks"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:wrich@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["wrich@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}