Couples establish joint endowed scholarship for WashU Medicine students

In 1972, an alphabetical listing brought Bob Warren, MD/PhD ’78, and Wes Wasdyke, MD ’76, together in a laboratory, where their microscopes sat side by side. Although both first-year medical students, their paths to WashU Medicine were markedly different. More than 50 years later, the friends feel those differences are what bonded them and their wives, Nancy and Cindy, respectively, into what they describe as a “family of the heart.”

And in truth, the Warrens and Wasdykes simply like each other. They credit WashU Medicine with affording them their lifelong bond, successful careers, and fulfilling lives. In appreciation for these personal and professional rewards, each couple recently pledged $125,000 to establish a joint endowed scholarship fund for students pursuing a medical degree at WashU Medicine. Their $250,000 total commitment helps advance WashU’s efforts to increase student access through With You: The WashU Campaign.

“Today’s medical students face a changing landscape in regard to financing their education,” says Eva Aagaard, MD, vice dean for education, vice chancellor for medical education, and the Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Professor of Medical Education at WashU Medicine. “The financial resources provided by generous scholarship gifts like this can mean the difference between students pursuing a medical degree or seeking another career.”

“I think Bob would agree with me that WashU Medicine gave us our lives. Neither of us would be who we are, and we wouldn’t be who we are as families, without the excellence demanded of us as medical students and the support we were able to give each other as friends sharing that experience.”

Wes Wasdyke, MD ’76

Choosing careers in medicine

Bob Warren was a teenager in Athens, Georgia, when he decided he wanted to go to medical school and pursue scientific research. WashU Medicine’s Roy Vagelos Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), whose graduates earn both a scientific doctorate and a medical degree, fulfilled both those goals. Bob’s acceptance into the program came with a full scholarship, which enabled his soon-to-be wife, Nancy, to also complete a doctorate in clinical psychology at Saint Louis University.

“We couldn’t have succeeded in achieving our ambitions without MSTP’s tuition remission and annual stipend,” Bob says. “The program allowed both of us to envision futures as medical professionals.” Two sets of student loans would have been difficult to manage, Nancy adds. “We’ve always been grateful for the support we received from WashU Medicine,” she says.

Born in northern New Jersey, Wes Wasdyke contemplated two possible careers as a teen: medicine and religious ministry. He majored in pre-med during college but was not admitted into the medical school of his choice. “It was good that I wasn’t accepted, because I had no means to pay my way through school,” he says. “I had been raised in a devout family, and I was keenly interested in the meaning of being a whole person — not just the scientific, but also the social, spiritual, and emotional aspects that make us human.”

For two years, Wes worked in a high-resolution mass spectrometry lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before entering theological school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to become an Episcopal priest. After completing seminary, he was assigned to a large parish in Cincinnati, Ohio. Although Wes found the vocation rewarding, he continued to feel the pull of medical school.

“After a lot of soul searching, and with my wife Cindy’s encouragement and understanding, I applied to WashU Medicine and was accepted,” he says.

Shared and differing experiences at WashU Medicine

Despite a 10-year age difference and diverse backgrounds, Bob and Wes found common ground contemplating spirituality and its connection to medicine. The Wasdykes’ son, Matthew, was a toddler at the time, and Bob loved children. The married couples were content with the simple pleasures of student life, which often meant sharing a six-pack of beer and playing board games.

But Bob and Wes each faced their own challenges during their training. After two years with his medical school class, Bob entered MSTP’s research phase and spent two-and-a-half years in the laboratory of Joseph M. Davie, MD, PhD, former head of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, before completing his clinical rotations. Davie tasked Bob with working on three simultaneous research projects whose outcomes ultimately determined his dissertation topic. “It was intense,” says Bob, who spent many hours per week in the lab during that period.

For Wes, keeping up with his studies was on par with his need to earn a living. While Cindy worked part time in WashU Medicine’s pathology department, he moonlighted as a part-time pastor at Episcopalian churches in University City, Clayton, and St. Charles, Missouri.

“I was really consumed with those responsibilities while I was studying,” Wes recalls. “Fortunately, I think I managed reasonably well.”

An opportunity to give back

After graduating from WashU Medicine, Wes became an anesthesiologist and continued to hold various volunteer roles in the Episcopal church before retiring in 2003. Bob, who later earned a master’s degree in public health from UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, became a pediatric rheumatologist. He retired several years ago from the Medical University of South Carolina, where he was a professor of pediatrics and chief medical information officer.

Each couple has two grown children, and the Wasdykes, who now live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, are grandparents as well. Their son, Matthew, who was just a few years old during his father’s medical training, earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from WashU in 1992. Through the years, the families have often traveled together to destinations like Alaska, Hawaii, and soon, Iceland.

Grateful for more than 50 years of friendship and fond memories, both couples continue to give back to WashU Medicine. The Warrens, who made their first gift to WashU four decades ago, are members of the Eliot Society, which recognizes donors who contribute $1,000 or more to the Annual Fund each year. They have consistently given to the Class of 1976 Scholarship Fund, and, in 2024, they honored Bob’s mentor by supporting a fund to endow the Joseph M. Davie Distinguished Professorship in the Department of Pathology and Immunology. The Wasdykes are 20-year WashU donors whose philanthropy includes gifts for WashU Medicine scholarships, teaching, and Annual Fund, among other areas.

In 2019, the Warrens and Wasdykes decided to extend support of WashU Medicine by making dual estate bequests to endow the Warren and Wasdyke Family Scholarship for medical students. The Wasdykes’ lawyer, however, later suggested they make their gift outright so they could experience the scholarship’s impact on students during their lifetime. Last year, both couples transitioned their $125,000 estate commitments into five-year pledges.

“We like the idea of seeing firsthand how our support is helping students envision the possibility of their futures,” Wes says.

This spring, the quartet will return to St. Louis for WashU Medicine Reunion. During their 50th reunion celebration, Bob and Wes hope to talk with current medical students who are just starting the journey that helped them fulfill dreams greater than they ever imagined.