Sally Shaywitz (Epstein), MD

The City College of New York was an excellent college, and it had minimal tuition. I grew up in the Bronx, New York, and took the train every morning to go to school. I loved CCNY. It was so supportive and encouraging to me. I loved Dr. Bernard Sohmer. He was in charge when we signed up for classes. He was very supportive of my going into science and then into medicine. There was another wonderful professor of organic chemistry, and he was very nice. When I was in my senior year, my mother was hospitalized. I went up to him in the spring and said, 'I have to tell you that I'm going to go visit my mother every day. I'm not going to be able to do the work. If you want to fail me, you can.' He said, 'Don't worry, I'm not going to.' CCNY made me feel very proud. I'm among the most distinguished scientists in the country. I'm a member of the National Academy of Medicine. In 2018 the New York Times wrote us up on the science page with the picture of both me and my husband. The Liberty Science Center chose the two of us for the Genius Award in 2019. CCNY is a very special place, very caring, and very supportive. They really played a major role in making me the person I am.