Fifty years ago, at the School of Medicine’s first home in the Biltmore Hotel, a group of 21 women established the Medical Faculty Wives (now called the Medical Faculty Association).

“Two years after the medical school opened its doors we began our group,” says Any Muench, current president. “At first the emphasis was on offering support to spouses and helping the wives adjust to the area and life as the spouse of a physician.” Soon the organization took on the responsibility of raising money for various projects and scholarships.

One of earliest fundraising projects was selling Christmas trees. A benefit tea on March 5, 1958, raised $500, which was donated to a short-term medical student loan fund. Maja Slotta, one of the early organizers, secured federal matching funds that matched donations nine to one, facilitating the initial growth of the student loan fund.

“From that date forward, providing financial assistance to medical students became one of the organization’s primary objectives,” Muench says. The loan fund was recently converted to an endowment fund from which scholarships will be granted to needy medical students. This year the group raised a record $54,000, most of it at their Golden Gala held at the Biltmore Hotel this spring.

Not only does the Medical Faculty Association support medical school and nursing scholarships, it also established a Graduate Student Loan Fund through the efforts of Margaret Whelan, the late wife of William Whelan, D.Sc., Professor and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Another fund, the MFA Margaret Whelan Graduate Student Scholarship Fund for competitive research travel awards, was later established in honor of her dedication to the medical school and the organization.

In 1997 the group spearheaded a two-year fundraising campaign and won a $150,000 grant from the State of Florida to restore Halissee Hall. The MFA has also raised funds to renovate the waiting room of the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Last year the MFA designed and created two decorative benches on the Schoninger Research Quadrangle in honor of the medical school’s 50th anniversary.

As Any Muench reflects back on the group’s own 50th anniversary, she is proud of the initial group of 21 people who planted the seeds for today’s MFA. “Today we have 156 members, including Edith Reiss, the only original member,” she says. “Our accomplishments honor all the dedicated women who have made the MFA an important part of the School of Medicine fabric.”