EFSC Foundation Receives Gift from BIMDA for Dental Scholarships
June 27, 2023
The Eastern Florida State College Foundation has been awarded a $25,000 donation from the Brevard Indo-American Medical and Dental Association (BIMDA) that will fund an endowed scholarship for dental studies.
BIMDA leaders presented the gift to the Foundation at the organization’s 26th Annual Medical Expo and Dinner Awards Gala on April 29 at the Melbourne Hilton Rialto Place.
“We are very pleased to select Eastern Florida State College as a steward for scholarships in Dental Studies,” said Glad Kurian, Founder and Honorary Executive Director, BIMDA.
“We are grateful for the support of BIMDA and their commitment to education. Scholarship endowments change lives in perpetuity,” said Tonya Cherry, Executive Director of the EFSC Foundation.
“We couldn’t do what we do at the Foundation without gifts such as this. We are on track to award $1,000,000 in scholarships again this coming academic year.”
The scholarship is established in honor of Brevard’s pioneering Dentists, Dr. Subhash G. Rege and Dr. N. Rao Kopuri.
Dr. Subhash Rege serves as the current Chairman and President of BIMDA. A dental career that spans 52 years, Dr. Rege has been a Professor of Dentistry and served as a mentor to hundreds of dentists over his lifetime in India and in the United States. He built a successful Dental practice at Palm Bay Dental Center which is now a part of New Image Dentistry group. Dr. Rege retired in 2017.
Dr. N. Rao Kopuri is a Former President of BIMDA in 2013 and currently serves as the group’s Operations Chair. Dr. Kopuri built a very successful practice with Central Florida Orthodontic Specialists over many decades in Brevard County starting in 1986. He retired in 2019 and the practice is now owned and run by his daughter Dr. Avanthi Kopuri.
Founded in 1999, the Brevard Indo-American Medical and Dental Association has presented grants totaling $150,000 this year to support health education in Brevard County and Central Florida.
Other recipients and the causes this year include the Health First Foundation for Nursing Studies, Florida Institute of Technology for Health Sciences, Jess Parrish Medical Foundation for Health Sciences, UCF College of Medicine for the MD Program and Brevard Schools Foundation for Health Sciences.
For more information about the EFSC Foundation, or to donate to a scholarship, call (321) 433-7055 or visit efscfoundation.org
- Media Contact: Suzanne Rains, APR, CPRC, Associate Vice President, Communications
- Office:321-433-7022
- Cell:321-537-6986
- Email:rainss@easternflorida.edu