Pomona College alumna Dr. Marjorie E. Belknap ’47, whose career as a physician and elder-care advocate spanned decades, recently awarded her alma mater an $8.6 million bequest.
Announced Sept. 2, the gift will establish scholarships to expand access to a Pomona education for future Sagehens. Pomona officials stated that the donation reflects Belknap’s revolutionary career in medicine as well as her enduring connection to the institution.
In the early 1950s, when few women entered the field of medicine, Belknap broke barriers to become a physician. She credited Pomona with laying the foundation for that path, often describing the college as the place that launched her lifelong commitment to service and advocacy.
“Marjorie blazed new trails at Pomona as a student in the 1940s, an experience that inspired her philanthropic efforts many years later,” President Starr said in email correspondence with TSL. “With her final gift to the College, Marjorie chose to contribute to student scholarships — a foundational priority because it brings a Pomona education within reach for so many more, irrespective of their background. We thank Marjorie for her visionary gift, as we hold her in our hearts and in our memories.”
At Pomona, Belknap majored in biology with a pre-medical focus during World War II. As she later recalled, at this time the campus felt “like a women’s college,” since the majority of male students were away in military service.
Belknap devoted herself to the study of medicine, but the opportunity to pursue a medical degree was extremely rare for women during her time as a student. Nevertheless, through a special Pomona–Stanford partnership, she gained guaranteed admission to Stanford Medical School, where she finished her medical studies as the only woman in her 1950 graduating class.
In 1956, Belknap opened one of the first private practices led by a woman physician in Marin County, California. She also worked at Ross Hospital and with the Marin County Health Department. In 2014, she was honored for her outstanding service by the Marin County Board of Supervisors, which highlighted her lifelong dedication to patient care and community health.
Belknap, who died in December 2023 at 98, left a final gift that ensures future students will have access to new opportunities.
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