Dr. Mary Ollapally Scholarship Fund – Friends of St. John's MC

In loving memory · 2019

A legacy of compassion & learning

The Dr. Mary Ollapally Scholarship Fund

Honouring an extraordinary teacher, physician and friend by opening doors for the next generation of St. John’s medical students.

Pioneer Batch of 1963 FOSJMC

Her story

A life that continues to inspire.

There are some people whose influence does not end with their lifetime. It continues in the people they taught, the lives they touched, and the possibilities they leave behind.

For the Pioneer Batch of 1963, Dr. Mary Ollapally was one of those people. Brilliant, humble, warm and deeply caring, Mary was not only an exceptional physician and academic leader, but also a cherished friend and mentor who gave generously of herself.

1963

A member of St. John’s pioneering batch.

First

In her class and in the university.

Pioneer

First recipient of the Pope Paul VI Prize and Medal.

Leader

First alumna to become Chairman of Anesthesiology and Dean of St. John’s Medical College.

The person behind the legacy

Excellence with humanity
at its heart.

Her remarkable achievements were matched by the kindness and generosity remembered by her classmates, students and colleagues.

A remarkable journey

A trailblazer at St. John’s

Mary’s journey was marked by remarkable firsts: first in her class, first in the university and the first recipient of the Pope Paul VI Prize and Medal. She later became the first alumna to serve as Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology and Dean of St. John’s Medical College.

Yet those who knew her remember more than her achievements: a friend, teacher and physician whose warmth left a lasting impression.

A tribute that grew

Friendship became remembrance.

After Mary passed away in 2019, her Pioneer Batch came together in 2020 to raise $60,000 toward a scholarship in her name.

The tribute soon extended beyond her batch. Through Friends of St. John’s, alumni from subsequent classes—many of whom had known Mary as their teacher and Dean—contributed another $60,000.

Together, they established a lasting fund to support future generations of St. John’s medical students.

The scholarship

$120,000

Total fund established

Turning remembrance into opportunity.

The Dr. Mary Ollapally Scholarship Fund — Batch 1963 / FOSJMC — was created through the combined generosity of her Pioneer Batch and alumni who followed.

Its investment returns provide a means-cum-merit-based scholarship supporting one student through undergraduate medical education.

A life devoted to teaching and caring for others now helps open the way for another aspiring physician.

To honor her memory in a way that allows a medical student a scholarship to study, in the place she loved, is very special.

— Dr. Anjali Ollapally, Mary’s daughter

An enduring legacy

One student. One future.
One generation at a time.

Perhaps that is what makes this scholarship so distinctly St. John’s. Friendship became remembrance. Remembrance became generosity. And generosity became opportunity.

What began in memory now lives on in possibility.

Adapted from the History of the Dr. Mary Ollapally Scholarship Fund shared by Selwyn J. Baptist, MD, Pioneer Batch of 1963.