Dr. Marion Kramer: Funds for the Future of Obstetrics

Education enabled me to do what I enjoy more than anything else,” says Dr. Marion Kramer ’67. “I would like other people to be able to pursue their dreams.” To give back and empower others, Dr. Kramer recently notified the Drexel University College of Medicine of a very generous estate provision of more than $2,000,000 to support an endowed position in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Drexel University College of Medicine. This gift is especially meaningful as a show of support from one of Drexel’s most distinguished graduates. In addition to conveying prestige to the department and the college, this gift sets a high bar of excellence for others to follow. Dr. Kramer studied at the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (now the Drexel University College of Medicine).

Dr. Kramer’s reflection on her experience and its impact on her life and career compelled her to ensure that others have the same (and better) opportunities she had as a student. “I never had any real problems with women in science, though that’s probably partly because I was somewhat naïve. But I know that women in science face a few more obstacles, and I wanted to do something to help women accomplish what they want to do.”

In 1985, Dr. Kramer set up the Kramer Family Fund, an endowment for student tuition. The fund supports female medical students demonstrating academic merit and financial need to be applied toward unexpected expenses in continuation of their medical education.

Dr. Kramer is a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist. She incorporated in the late 1980s and became a partner in a private obstetrics, gynecology, and fertility practice with Dr. Renee Van de Carr at the Calaroga Surgical Center in Hayward, California. Dr. Kramer completed her residencies through Stanford at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and The Medical Center at Mount Zion.

About her many successes in medicine, she remains modest, attributing her achievements to her parents’ attitude. “They brought me up so I never knew there were boy jobs and girl jobs,” Kramer explains. “It wasn’t their idea that I go to medical school, but they never discouraged it. They never once said, ‘Oh, don’t you mean you want to be a nurse?’”

Dr. Marion Kramer recently made a generous commitment to support the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Drexel University College of Medicine.