A Legacy of Care: Dr. Lawrence Dunlap '68 Invests in UC Irvine's Future Physicians
Lawrence (Larry) Dunlap, M.D. '68 distinctly remembers the attic room he rented his first year as a UC Irvine medical student. The roof sloped so that he could only stand upright in the center of the room, and there was no air conditioning, but it was just three blocks from his classes. Though he did not know it at the time, his parents, who had hoped he would get a high-paying job after finishing his undergraduate degree at Harvard University, were tightening their belts to help fund his medical aspirations.
Now retired after more than five decades in emergency medicine, Dunlap is making plans to support future generations of UC Irvine medical students.
"I believe in the idea of paying things forward. If I can help financially support somebody through medical school so that they don't take the easy way out and become a banker, that's what I want to do," Dunlap says. "I hope that I'm an average guy trying to do average things here."
Even as an average guy, Dunlap is making a big impact on the UC Irvine School of Medicine through planned gifts. He has created two charitable gift annuities, or CGAs, which allow him to donate appreciated stocks to UC Irvine, bypass capital gains taxes and convert them into a guaranteed income stream.
"The charitable gift annuity is a nice way to give money and still have some return," Dunlap says. "Instead of cashing in the stocks that have appreciated nicely and paying taxes on them, I can put them in the bank with a trusted institution like UCI."
During his lifetime, the CGA's will provide Dunlap with a guaranteed fixed income stream. Once that obligation is fulfilled it will provide the resources for the dean to support the next generation of medical professionals.
"I could direct the funds toward my favorite things, but stuff changes all the time, and I would just as soon not hamper the university in that way," he explains.
Additionally, in 2023, Dunlap created the Dr. Lawrence and Sandra Dunlap Endowed Medical Scholarship to support a generation of medical students at a school that has grown significantly. Dunlap's classes were held at the former California College of Medicine in Los Angeles, and he trained at hospitals all over Los Angeles and Orange County, often renting a nearby apartment with his classmates. Today, students train at the UCI Health facilities across OC - and soon, at the new medical complex in Irvine.
Dunlap's parents and grandparents came to UC Irvine's campus for the first time to attend his commencement ceremony in Aldrich Park. The graduation was a milestone - no one in the family had graduated from college in four generations, since his great-grandfather had become a physician in the Civil War.
After graduation, a quarter of a century would pass before Dunlap returned to Irvine and saw for himself the "amazing transformation" the campus had undergone.
After he finished medical school in 1968, Dunlap joined the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and provided medical care to Native American tribes in Arizona. Finding emergency medicine to be the most exciting specialty - though not the most lucrative - he and a fellow physician founded a corporation that staffed ERs around Phoenix. Later, when he moved to Oregon with his family, Dunlap co-founded Eugene Emergency Physicians PC, and helped grow the organization from four doctors to over 40.
Since his retirement, Dunlap has had time to get more involved with his community, serving on boards and city commissions, and even running for public office. He also renewed his connection with his alma mater, joining the UC Irvine Alumni Association and getting reacquainted with classmates through a medical school reunion.
Now, he wants to fortify the future excellence of the UC Irvine Medical School, and help aspiring physicians graduate without worrying about their finances and choose a specialty based on enjoyment rather than just earning potential.
"UCI has bloomed to such an amazing degree; it's phenomenal," he says. "I like that among all the California institutions, UCI seems to represent the common man, the generalist. I see the campus as a whole is a great mix of people and as proof that the American Dream is happening right here."
