2025 Partners in Philanthropy Herman B Wells Visionary Award: Craig and Stephanie Brater
The Brater family’s altruistic spirit is reflected in their enduring commitment to transform lives globally through scholarships, training, and advancing medical education and leadership. We honor their lasting influence as recipients of the Herman B Wells Visionary Award.
Transcript
[Craig Brater:] There are two kinds of gifts that people give. There are gifts of duty, and then there are also gifts of passion. So when you give a gift of passion, you feel grateful for the opportunity to give, where it’s something that you really care about deep in your soul.
Craig and Stephanie are partners.
[Dr. Kelvin Lee:] I think they're just good people. That’s just part of their DNA.
[J. T. Forbes:] You can’t lead something like that without having somebody right there with you.
[Dr. Adrian Gardner:] Their commitment sort of just inspires other people to be committed.
[Curt Simic:] Each of you separately and together has been monumental in changing the landscape of how the School of Medicine serves humanity.
Craig, as you know, was the previous dean of the School of Medicine and really had fundamental changes happen all across campus.
[Joyce Roger:] Dr. Brater was part of making it become what it is today.
[Craig Brater:] The way you do that is you recruit the most talented people you can find, and then over time, you just keep building and building.
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He is one of the reasons why we have AMPATH.
[Dr. Sylvester Kimaiyo:] I met Craig Brater for the first time in 1998.
[Dr. Adrian Gardner:] Craig is definitely like a mentor to me and has been such a champion of this effort.
[Craig Brater:] I inherited this when I was a year old.
[Dr. Adrian Gardner:] In the broadest sense of the term, AMPATH is a model of partnership for academic institutions engaging in global health.
Primary purpose was to reinforce the altruistic spirit of medicine.
[Dr. Adrian Gardner:] I had an opportunity as a medical student to go — we had to do something about HIV. That experience helped solidify my commitment to a career in infectious disease.
[Dr. Sylvester Kimaiyo:] I was the rounding lead, and Craig Brater joined me on the rounds for one full month.
[Craig Brater:] It was very easy for us to decide that we wanted to go.
[Stephanie Brater:] Craig went before I did for only a week with a couple of other physicians. And he came back home and he said, “You’ve got to come.” And I said, “Okay.” I had no idea what that meant. My daughter and I started working at an orphanage that had a school component, and we would walk there every day and work.
[Aimee Brater:] I found my soul there. Mom and I started going to the school and pulling the kids outside, you know, one at a time.
[Stephanie Brater:] And we saw the progress we were making in just those few hours over a few months. And the teacher started telling us, “This student couldn't write his name. Now, he can write his name.” So that spurred us on. We could see the difference. And then we were insufferable talking about it.
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[Craig Brater:] The issues are so vast. You quickly find out that if you just think of it at one individual at a time, then you can see how you have real impact.
[Stephanie Brater:] That attitude really paid off. Trying to stay hopeful and trying to see the small amount of progress is still progress.
[Michael Owino:] And I think this is, you know, early to mid-’90s. This is a long time ago. They were very approachable. And also, I felt very comfortable around them.
[Craig Brater:] We refer to Michael and Marcel as our Kenyan sons.
[Marcel Owino:] They had told my mom that they would take care of me, and they did way more than that.
[Craig Brater:] They’re not biologic. They're not adopted. We have been guardians in effect.
[Michael Owino:] And that was very important for me, best of my background, having that supportive figure in your life.
[Craig Brater:] By taking them into our home and supporting them, putting them through school and everything.
[Michael Owino:] My mom had actually talked to Stephanie and had kind of, you know, planted the seed of my coming to the US to study.
[Stephanie Brater:] Every time I’d go to Kenya, she would say to me, “Remember you’re taking Michael.” I said, “I know. I won't forget.”
[Craig Brater:] It’s not all about us. There's a big world out there, and there's a lot of need, and let's put those needs ahead of some of our own.
[Dr. Kelvin Lee:] The thank yous are not so much from me.
[Dr. Adrian Gardner:] Just a big thank you.
[Michael Owino:] Thank you for everything you’ve done for my life.
[Dr. Adrian Gardner:] We all owe such gratitude to you.
[Dr. Kelvin Lee:] The thank yous are from the patients and their families that they have so tremendously impacted by their work.
[Marcel Owino:] I want to say congratulations from the bottom of my heart, and I’m very proud of you.
[Aimee Brater:] You have taught me how to love, honestly.
[Dr. Sylvester Kimaiyo:] You changed my life. In terms of what I would say, I would — when I grow up, I would like to be like Craig Brater.
[Curt Simic:] You step up to make something good happen for somebody. Your leadership is clarion, and thank you so much.
[Aimee Brater:] You two have been the change that I would want to see, that the world needs to see.
[J. T. Forbes:] And for that, we are grateful for your example. Thank you.
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Written By
IU Foundation Staff