East Carolina has long had close economic ties with the community, providing stimulus to the region and receiving in turn considerable generosity from it. An extraordinary example is the Brody family: after immigrating to the U. S. and founding a shoe store in Sumter, S.C. in the early 1900s, one branch of the Brody family led by Leo Brody (1907-2003) relocated to Kinston, N.C. in 1928 and founded Brody Brothers Dry Goods. The family’s highly successful stores were soon expanded to Greenville, Rocky Mount, Goldsboro, and New Bern. In the mid-1960s, following a meeting with President Leo Jenkins, Leo Brody and his brothers J. S. “Sammy” Brody (1916-1994) and Morris Brody (1918-2011) emerged as major benefactors of East Carolina’s drive for a medical school, supporting the cause with a $200,000 donation. Their generosity has grown ever since, most recently with the next generation of Brody benefactors, cousins Hyman J. Brody II and David S. Brody. Cumulatively, the family has given more than $22 million to the medical school that today bears its name. In addition to providing funding, David Brody has served as chair, vice-chair, and member of the ECU Board of Trustees. He and his cousin Hyman have also served as members of the Medical and Health Sciences Foundation’s investment committee.
Brody’s generosity has been crucial at every turn of the medical school’s development. Two years after ECU’s four-year medical school became a reality, the Brody family donated $1.5 million toward the construction of the school’s main building. Recognizing the family’s generosity, the ECU Board of Trustees named the building, dedicated in 1982, the Brody Medical Science Building. The following year, the Brody family established the Brody Scholars Program, North Carolina’s most distinguished medical scholarship. The scholarship, which honors J. S. “Sammy” Brody, provides recipients with full tuition and fees, plus living expenses. The family also endowed a Brody professorship in medicine.
In 1999, the Brody family took their giving to new heights with an $8 million dollar gift to the medical school. The Brody Brothers Foundation provided $7 million, and Morris and Lorraine Brody of Greenville gave an additional $1 million. According to then ECU Chancellor Richard Eakin, the donation was the largest single donation ever to the ECU, more than doubling an anonymous gift of $4 million made to the ECU Medical Foundation in 1994. The ECU Board of Trustees met the same day, via conference call, and voted to name the medical school the Brody School of Medicine in honor of the family’s extraordinary generosity.
Commenting on the Brody gift, ECU Board of Trustees chair Phil Dixon observed, “With the support of the Brody family in the past, the East Carolina University School of Medicine has become one of the premier young medical schools in the country. … As forecast, the school has already dramatically improved the type and quality of health care in eastern North Carolina. Their recent and most generous gift will enable the Brody School of Medicine to continue to serve the health care needs of our citizens and will have a profound impact on each of our lives. We greatly appreciate the continued support of the Brody family.”
ECU Chancellor Richard Eakin added, “We are honored to have the School of Medicine bear the name of the Brody family. It is a most fitting symbol of the long-standing relationship between the school and the Brodys. … The family has made significant past contributions to the school, which were previously recognized through the naming of this building. Today’s gifts are a further demonstration of the Brodys’ strong and continuing commitment to East Carolina University, the School of Medicine, and all of eastern North Carolina.”
Hyman J. Brody II, co-administrator of the Brody Brothers Foundation, said his family was honored by the Board of Trustees’ decision to recognize their gift. “When ECU needed support, Leo, Sammy, and the rest of our family have always tried to step up to the plate. … We feel that our family and the medical school share the same vision in reaching out and helping the people of eastern North Carolina. … The Brody family felt it was time to help the medical school take the next step by funding these areas of research, which open up a new realm of possibilities in treating many chronic diseases and hopefully may lead to a cure.” He added, “This is our way of giving back something to the community that gave us so much.”
His cousin, David S. Brody, also a co-administrator of the Brody Foundation, noted, “It’s important for us to support our own institutions. We both remember the days when people had to drive to Raleigh or Durham with severe illnesses. … Our family foundation has many opportunities to give to various causes. However, we believe the mission of the School of Medicine matches what we wanted to accomplish; that being to improve the health status of the people of eastern North Carolina. We are hopeful this gift will inspire others to join us in helping the medical school develop their resources for research into the key health problems of our region.”
Sources
- Batchelor, T. Scott. “Brody family donates $8m to ECU.” Rocky Mount Telegram. December 8, 1999. P. 8C.
- Blackburn, Marion. “In Their Footsteps.” East Magazine. July 27, 2009. Pp. 18-20. https://issuu.com/eastcarolina/docs/east_summer09. Also, http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/mktg/east/David-Brody-Profile-Fall-2009.cfm.
- “The Brody Scholars Program.” Brody School of Medicine. 2018. http://www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/brodyscholars/.
- “ECU receives Brody gift, renames school of medicine.” ECU News Service. December 7, 1999. http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/news/newsstory.cfm?id=243.
Citation Information
Title: The Brody Family
Author: John A. Tucker, PhD
Date of Publication: 2018