New nursing scholarship established from Geraldine Chan ’64 estate

Through a generous estate gift of $1.97 million from Dr. Geraldine Chan ’64, Goshen College has established the new endowed Geraldine Y. Chan Nursing Scholarship.

“We are deeply grateful to Dr. Chan for this gift and the significant impact it will have! Scholarships for nursing students are pivotal in students’ ability to be successful,” said Jewel Yoder, professor of nursing and director of the nursing program at Goshen College. “It can open doors to this profession for those who think that they could never afford a four-year nursing degree.”

The new scholarship coincides well with the opening of the college’s new state-of-the-art Center for Nursing and Public Health facility in 2025, supporting the potential for growing the number of students who can enroll and graduate from the programs.

Chan, who grew up in Hong Kong, graduated from Goshen College with a biology degree in 1964. She pursued dentistry at Indiana University and later became a successful dentist in New York City’s Chinatown.

Chan met several figures in Goshen who would have a lasting impact on her life — Viola Good ’39, international student advisor, and Robert and Donna Klein, Goshen residents who were especially invested in the college’s international students.

It was the sort of generosity modeled by these people that inspired Chan to give back to the community that had provided for her. “I became a better person by studying at Goshen,” she said in 1984. “I benefited from someone else’s generosity, and I know of no better way to say thank you … than by setting up a scholarship.”

Before her death in 2023, she had also established a scholarship for international students at Goshen College.