David Brody's uncles Sammy and Leo are among the early supporters of the medical school depicted in this mural.


In Their Footsteps

David Brody is carrying on his family's tradition of giving generously
to improve health care for the people of eastern North Carolina

By Marion Blackburn

U

ncle J.S. “Sammy” Brody used to say giving was a selfish thing. The more he gave, the better he felt. As a young man setting out in the world, these words made a powerful impression on David S. Brody. He knew his uncle meant business; whenever he concluded a successful deal, he gave to one of his many causes.

By the 1960s, ECU became one of those causes when Sammy Brody, along with brothers Leo and Morris, met with then-Chancellor Leo W. Jenkins to hear more about the daring idea of opening a medical school here. They liked the idea so much they gave $200,000 toward it.

“He was an unusual person, the most generous person I knew,” David Brody said during an interview in his Kinston office. “His thought was, ‘Don’t make small gifts. If you’re going to do something, make a difference.’ I’ve adopted his philosophy of making a difference. Even a small gift, combined with other gifts, can make a difference.”

By 1977, the medical school was operating and in 1979, the Brodys made a $1.5 million gift that, when matched with state funds, built the school. It was dedicated as the Brody Medical Sciences Building in 1982.

Today, David Brody is carrying on the tradition of giving. He is co-president, along with his cousin Hyman, of the Brody Brothers Foundation, a philanthropic fund that has been a powerful agent of change at ECU. While the fund has provided broad funding for research at the medical school, the Brodys themselves continue to serve as loyal advocates for the university and region they adopted as their own. David graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.

In addition to managing the family foundation, David Brody has served for six years on the university’s Board of Trustees, often working on committees related to health care. He was vice chair of the trustees the past two years, and this summer he was elected chairman. Hyman and David are members of the Medical & Health Sciences Foundation’s investment committee, while Stacy Brody, Hyman’s wife, is a member of that foundation’s Board of Directors.

Uncle Sammy Brody's rule of thumb for gifts went like this: If you can write a check without thinking about it, then you’re not giving enough money. At the 1982 ribbon-cutting for the Brody Medical Sciences Building are, left to right, John Howell, Sammy Brody, Leo Brody, Gov. Jim Hunt, President Leo Jenkins and William Laupus.

One of their most memorable gifts came in 1999, when the Brody family announced an $8 million gift to the medical school. It provided research funding into illnesses prevalent in eastern North Carolina, including diabetes, heart disease, obesity and high blood pressure. In tribute to their gift, the medical school was renamed the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University.

It was a capstone act that followed other exceptional gifts. In 1983, another gift funded the Brody Medical Scholarship, a prestigious award aimed at attracting the best and brightest to the medical school by providing full tuition and living expenses. Since the program began in 1983, 109 students have received Brody scholarships. The scholarship enables them to graduate without the burden of debt that saddles many young doctors, allowing them to practice in rural areas where salaries are typically lower than in metropolitan areas. It also encourages them to pursue careers in family medicine and primary care.

The Brody story began in South Carolina, where the 10 Brody brothers and their sister grew up. David Brody’s father, Reuben, opened The Capital clothing store, where he often worked nights and weekends to build a loyal client base. Several of the brothers opened Brody’s Department Store in Sumter and, in 1928, Leo Brody opened Brody’s in Kinston, which expanded to Greenville in the 1930s. Hyman Brody’s father, Morris, arrived in Greenville after World War II to serve as the managing partner of the Greenville store. He and his wife, Lorraine, continue to live in Greenville.

Under the direction of David Brody and Hyman Brody, the stores expanded to several locations in eastern North Carolina, and became very successful. In 1998 they were sold to Proffitt’s.

When Reuben Brody passed away, Sammy, a successful businessman with Atlantic Bottling Co. and Atlantic Telecasting, became a compelling mentor to David. He warmly recalls the many conversations that opened with his uncle’s trademark greeting, “What’s up, Sport?”

“He never talked about himself,” David Brody remembers. “And when he walked into a room, you knew it. He had an aura about him.” At his funeral in 1994, “many people came up to me and said, ‘He gave me my start,’” David says.

A genuine sense of caring for one another is at the heart of the Brody family’s giving. The 11 children were each charged with looking out for the next younger sibling—as well as another sibling. “Their devotion to each other was legendary,” David says.

He cherishes the lessons of philanthropy learned from Uncle Sammy, whose rule of thumb for gifts went like this: If you can write a check without thinking about it, then you’re not giving enough money.

“He was the genesis of the foundation,” David Brody says. “It was his philosophy, and he led by example.”