Reich Family Endowment
Harry Reich and his wife, Marilyn Brennan Reich, established the Reich Family Endowment for Excellence on the Care of the Whole Patient in 2000 in memory of their son, Thomas G. Reich, who passed away in 1986 of Hodgkin's Disease, and Harry's brother, the late Louis A. Reich, M.D., a 1951 Notre Dame graduate. The first of his family to go to college, Harry Reich graduated magna cum laude from Notre Dame in 1948 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He is president of the Harry Reich Company, a privately held firm started by his father in 1938. The company designs and distributes machinery used in creating metal products.
Marilyn Reich is a member of the Saint Mary's College Class of 1950. The Reichs are active in numerous church and community activities and are members of their local Notre Dame and Saint Mary's alumni clubs. They have seven children.
The Reich Family Endowment for the Excellence on the Care of the Whole Patient was established to provide research opportunities for pre-med students, specifically the development of educational and professional tools for improving the doctor-patient relationship and, consequently, the quality of life for patients battling cancer. This endowment has supported undergraduate research in the College of Science with a commitment to character formation in current and future physicians. Ultimately, the aim of this research is to develop deeper and more trusting relationships between physicians and their patients.
In past years, undergraduate students have been working on the study, "Qualitative Study of Patient Perceptions of Physicians Who Have Broken Bad Medical News in the Best Manner Possible." This research study was funded by the Reich Family Endowment for the Care of the Whole Patient.
Authors of the Study
- Dominic O. Vachon M.Div., Ph.D.
- Jill Briody
- Matthew Gervais
- Matthew Harbrecht
- Ivan Leung
- John Mueller
- Thomas O’Callaghan
- Michael Russell
- John Vernon
- R. J. Weir
- Elizabeth Moriarty, M.Div.