Raul A. Chavez & Dr. Angela M. Martinez Endowment

For proud alumnus Raul A. Chavez ‘80, graduate of FIU’s Health Services Administration (HSA) program, and his wife, Dr. Angela M. Martinez, member of the FIU President’s Council, giving back to help FIU move forward is what they do.

As lifetime members of the FIU Alumni Association, they pledged a planned gift in support of the Association with a partial bequest to establish the Raul A. Chavez and Dr. Angela M. Martinez Endowment for the Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences. The gift is one of the largest planned commitments made in the history of the University.

Their connection to the College’s health programs runs deep. Mr. Chavez and Dr. Martinez are health professionals each in their own right — he is a retired firefighter/paramedic officer with Miami-Dade Fire & Rescue, and she is a practicing psychologist.

Mr. Chavez earned a bachelor’s degree in Health Science Management from FIU in 1980, the precursor to today’s HSA programs. “I can draw a direct line from that degree to my ascent into supervisory positions over my 35 years with Miami-Dade Fire & Rescue,” said Mr. Chavez. “Leaning on those work experiences and the competencies learned from the FIU HSA program is also why I collaborated with the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance/Agency for International Development and U.S. Southern Command to train first responders in communities all over the world.”

Closer to home, this first response instinct was evident at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as they generously gave funds to FIU’s College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts to produce and donate protective face shields for local first responders. When they heard stories of some students in our own College who could not afford the incidentals of going to school, such as meals and supplies, they immediately donated emergency funds directly to our College to disburse to students with the greatest financial hardships.

But when it comes to supporting our College with this larger planned gift, Mr. Chavez and Dr. Martinez are proving they are in it for the long haul. They expect the perpetual disbursements from the endowment will be used to lift financial obstacles that would otherwise hinder deserving students from obtaining their degrees and support the College’s vision to continuously evolve as an institution of eminent study, research, and practice shaping the future of healthcare.