Mistaken ID shocks AMA doc

Daniel Johnson wasn't aware that he had donated $10 million to the University's Medical School until he read his name in USA Today Friday morning. That's because he didn't. Much to his amazement, the national newspaper ran a story which mistakenly indentified Johnson as a Boston doctor who donated $10 million to provide free tuition for 25 medical students annually. The actual donor, a University alumnus, remains anonymous. "I was sitting on an airplane Friday morning reading the paper, and when I got to the D section it was quite surprising to see my name," said Johnson, who is the speaker of the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association. Johnson said yesterday that he feels bad for the anonymous doctor and his wife who made the donation. "It really was a wonderful donation made much more magnanamous because it was anonymous," he said. Johnson added he thinks the donors acted with "the finest interest of philanthropy" and feels bad that he was mistakenly given the credit. "It had to be a terrible thing for them," Johnson said. When Med School Dean William Kelley announced the donation last Thursday, he said that the donor and his wife were "a humble couple who wish to remain anonymous...hopefully at [a] later date they will choose to come forward." The $10 million was used to establish a fund, which officials hope will eventually provide free medical school tuition for all medical students, thus allowing them to enter the field of their choice without constraints due to heavy education debt. Johnson said his only other concern is that after being given credit for a $10 million donation, he might be called upon to meet other needs as well. "I don't want people thinking I've won the lottery," he said, "since I certainly haven't."

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