Planned gifts to Princeton Medical Center

Overview

The Enduring Impact of Dr. Georg Albers-Schönberg’s Gift to His Community

“Everything starts with being curious about something,” said Georg Albers-Schönberg, PhD. For Georg, that rings true both as a scientist and in his personal life.

Georg met his wife Joyce while they were both at Merck pharmaceuticals, where he was a research chemist and she was a biochemist. Joyce later received her MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, where she graduated at the top of her class and transitioned into the financial analysis sector. They enjoyed 50 years of a very happy marriage, traveling extensively across the world together, but always eagerly coming home to their own New Jersey community. Passionate about the missions of local organizations ranging from the Institute for Advanced Study to the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Georg and Joyce balanced their time and enthusiasm with generous philanthropy.

Joyce tragically passed from pancreatic cancer in 2018. When the Penn Medicine Princeton Health team shared their vision to transform cancer care in the community, Georg saw a perfect opportunity to support a cause deeply personal to him. A new cancer center offering supportive services such as palliative medicine, rehabilitation, mental health services, and caregiver clinics would offer patients an even greater range of care than what Joyce experienced during her illness.

With a generous bequest, Georg chose to name the radiology floor of the proposed cancer center in honor of his grandfather, Heinrich Albers-Schönberg, MD—memorializing his outstanding contributions to the earliest days of the field as well as his untimely passing from cancer. In addition, he will be naming the Imaging Center Waiting Area in honor of Joyce, creating a peaceful space for patients and families who are undertaking their cancer journey, just as she did.

The state-of-the-art cancer center on the 171-acre health campus in Plainsboro, New Jersey, will build on the already impressive capabilities of the current cancer program and take it to a new groundbreaking level of excellence to benefit the local community.

“It’s a great hospital here,” said Georg, who has lived in Princeton for more than 60 years. “It’s our hospital.”

To learn more about the new cancer center or planned giving opportunities to support Princeton Health, contact Princeton Medical Center Foundation at 609.252.8710 or PMPH-Foundation@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.

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