FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, Dec. 15, 2017
Contact: Sheanna Spence, Assistant Director of Alumni Affairs and Community Relations, School of Medicine, 304-691-1639

Vega family establishes scholarship for Marshall medical students

 HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Michael E. Vega, M.D., and his wife, Paula, have established an endowed scholarship at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine in memory of his parents, Dr. Elmer T. and Mary M. Vega.

Elmer Vega was the first board-certified anesthesiologist in the area, performing the region’s first epidural anesthetic. He helped pioneer the open-heart surgery program at St. Mary’s Hospital and was instrumental in the founding of the Marshall School of Medicine. Mary Vega was a schoolteacher. They both passed away in 2016.

“Paula and I were pleased to continue my parents’ legacy through this scholarship,” Michael Vega said. “They were both passionate people who were supportive of education at every level. This scholarship would make them so proud to know they are supporting medical students’ education.”

The Dr. Elmer T. & Mrs. Mary M. Vega Scholarship is designated for an entering first-year medical student from Gallia, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Pike or Scioto county in Ohio or Boyd, Carter, Elliott, Floyd, Greenup, Johnson, Lawrence, Martin or Pike county in Kentucky, with first preference given to a student from Chesapeake, Ohio. The award is renewable for three additional years, pending normal academic progress.

First-year medical student Halley Alberts of Crown City, Ohio, is the inaugural recipient of the award.

Michael Vega is a local anesthesiologist. Paula Vega is the owner of Paula Vega Cakes in Huntington.  

For more information or to support the school of medicine, contact Linda S. Holmes, director of development and alumni affairs, at 304-691-1711.

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Date Posted: Friday, December 15, 2017