Frederick (Rick) L. Greene, MD ’70, is a loyal Double ‘Hoo. A graduate of both the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Medicine, Greene has made his mark on the University of Virginia for more than 50 years.

As an undergraduate student, he started the university’s pep band, playing in the stands at football games and later at the basketball team’s first game in University Hall in 1965. As a medical student, Greene co-founded the Mulholland Society, the School’s student leadership organization. And as an alumnus, he has supported UVA through volunteer service, including his recent role as board president of the UVA Medical School Foundation, and through philanthropy.

Greene, who is a surgical oncologist, counts the eight years he spent at UVA as the most important time of his life. It’s not only where he received his education, but also where he met his wife, Donna, a fellow UVA graduate, and many lifelong friends.  “So many things that I have been able to do subsequent to my graduation in 1970 from medical school were predicated on my being a student at UVA,” he says. “I’m extremely proud of being an alumnus. It was easy for me to want to give back, both in kind and also financially. It just felt right to do it.”

In 2018, Greene took part in the Mulholland Society’s 50th anniversary celebration (see above, center), and he is proud to see how the Mulholland Society is thriving today and how it fosters leadership opportunities for current medical students.

This year, in honor of his 50th Medical School Reunion, Rick and Donna Greene established the Mulholland Society Leaders Bicentennial Scholars Fund. The fund will provide scholarships to students at the School of Medicine with a demonstrated record of leadership.

“Thomas Jefferson once wrote, ‘There are three areas in a person’s life: scholarship, leadership and citizenship.’ You want a balance in all of those things,” Greene says. “We wanted to establish something in honor of my 50th anniversary of graduating from medical school. Because the Mulholland Society was so important to me, we chose to create a fund that would give financial aid to a student and also recognize a student who is a leader and has taken part in activities during his or her time at UVA. With the Bicentennial Scholars Fund available, it was a great time to do that.”

The University’s Bicentennial Scholars Fund supports new student scholarships with matching funds for contributions of $100,000 or more that are fully paid within five years. Gifts are matched $1 for each $2 in gift funding for new endowments supporting need- and merit-based scholarships, including those for graduate students.

Greene looks forward to seeing the fund grow and begin awarding scholarships in 2021. That’s when he also looks forward to celebrating his 50th reunion with classmates, whose 2020 reunion was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He invites fellow alumni to join him in supporting the Mulholland Society Leaders Bicentennial Scholars Fund, as well as other funds that are important to them. “Since 1967, every medical student has been a member of the Mulholland Society. I would encourage alumni to give to this particular fund and other funds that they feel are important,” he says. “In the time that we’re living, we’ve seen the issues that universities and students are facing. We have to continue to feel that philanthropy is important and not forget those principles. Hopefully as we return to normal, philanthropy will continue to be important to everyone and especially those alumni who have come through the University of Virginia.”