A Passage from India

Kansals Give to School of Medicine

Santosh and Prakosh Kansal

Both Santosh Kansal, M.D., and her husband, Prakash Kansal, M.D., were born in India to well-educated, middle-class families who stressed the importance of higher education and demonstrated a commitment to service. The Drs. Santosh and Prakash Kansal Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Medicine reflects the couple’s commitment to these values and honors their contributions to medicine.

Dr. Santosh Kansal served as a research associate and faculty member in the UAB Division of Cardiovascular Disease until 1985, with a secondary appointment as a consulting cardiologist at the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center. In 1985, she entered into private practice and also served as a consultant to the Birmingham Research Group until her retirement in 2006. Dr. Prakash Kansal served on the faculty of the UAB Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism from 1971 to 1992, when he entered into private practice.

After the partition of India in 1947, Santosh’s family moved from Lahore (now in Pakistan) to Delhi, India. “My siblings and I completed our education with the help of the Indian government, family, and friends,” she says. “I feel strongly about helping students financially.”

Prakash was motivated by his grandparents. “My maternal grandfather established MR College (now MR Government College) in Fazilka, Punjab, and my paternal grandfather donated money to MDAS High School in Moga, Punjab, to build a classroom,” he says. “We feel that the presidential scholarship will help some students achieve their goals in medicine, and in turn they will help other students in the future.”

“We are grateful to the Kansals for their service to UAB and for this gift,” says Robert R. Rich, M.D., senior vice president and dean of the School of Medicine. “Their generosity will help us continue to recruit the best and brightest students.”

Maintaining the Momentum / Summer/Fall 2009