Upstate Medical gets $25M gift

SUNY Upstate Medical University will be renamed to reflect its largest gift ever, from a graduate who went on to become a prominent ophthalmologist. Alan Norton, a 1966 alumnus, has given $25 million to the school, which will become the Alan and Marlene Norton College of Medicine.

Norton was a visiting faculty member at UCLA for more than 20 years and had his own ophthalmology practice. His wife, Marlene, is a nurse.

“The Nortons’ gift will elevate the college’s stature and set us on a solid future of sustained excellence for years to come,” Mantosh Dewan, president of Upstate Medical, said in a prepared statement.