Donor Stories

A Legacy Gift Rooted in Gratitude

For more than 30 years, Iris Granek, MS ’95, MD, called Stony Brook University her home. She first arrived as a resident in preventive medicine and public health, later earning her MS and rising to become the founding chair of the Department of Family, Population, and Preventive Medicine. “I’m one of those Stony Brook lifers,” she said. “It gave me everything I wanted.”

Her decision to make an impact is rooted in that lifelong connection and in her own experience as a first‑generation medical student. With parents who never went to college, a father who didn’t finish high school, and no physicians in her family, she lacked any type of road map for medical school.

“There was no one I could look to as a role model,” she said. “So I want to help students who don’t have that support at home, students who are the first to take this leap.” Through the Iris Granek, Al Granek, and Elias Lifshitz Endowed Scholarship in Medicine, she is opening doors for future physicians who share that journey.

In addition, Granek chose to name Stony Brook as a beneficiary in her estate plan. The planned gift was shaped by early conversations with her father, who encouraged her to pursue medicine, save wisely, and give back. After the passing of her life partner, Elias, the idea of creating a lasting legacy became even more meaningful. “They were both so proud of me,” she said. “Naming Stony Brook as a beneficiary felt like a way to honor them and support the institution that shaped my entire career.”

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