Dan Branch ’87 and Karen Heiligman Branch ’88 are setting up a $120,000 scholarship to make an Ithaca College education available to worthy students.
Dan is a founder and chief financial officer of Horizon Medical Group Inc., which operates 40 diagnostic centers in Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, and Georgia. He believes the social skills he developed at Ithaca College were as important to his current success as the education he received.
“The best part of Ithaca was the social skills I gained there that helped me succeed in life. I was prepared accounting-wise to handle what was thrown my way because of the education I received, but it was the social part that made a huge difference.
“My first year at Ithaca, I lived in a triple occupancy, and my senior year, two of my three roommates were roommates from my freshman year. We still talk to this day.”
Dan also met his wife, Karen, at Ithaca. “Karen was one year behind me, and we knew each other for three years before we started dating during the second half of my senior year.”
Dan and Karen have made a $120,000 commitment to the Daniel J. ’87 and Karen Heiligman ’88 Branch Business Scholarship, which will be awarded to outstanding business students with demonstrated financial need. “My parents paid for my total education plus gave me spending money, so I didn't have to work during my four years at Ithaca, but I know that's unrealistic for everyone,” Dan said. “Karen and I now have the ability to help students less fortunate than I was, so we started the scholarship.”
Learn more about the Campaign for Ithaca College.
