Heroes Like You
Who makes our mission possible?
Heroes like you.
Being a hero doesn’t require rushing into a burning building to save lives. The definition is a bit broader than that and requires only the selfless attempt (and intent) to benefit others through some amount of personal sacrifice. When you give your assets to support our mission, you become a hero—at least to the students whose lives are transformed during their time at Duquesne.
What does a hero look like? Here are just a few of the supporters who have helped us change lives.
Benjamin A. Quamina, M.D., S’60:
“Duquesne gave me the structure and support to be successful, to exceed, to excel, and to give.”
Growing up in Rochester, N.Y., Quamina was only an infant when he lost his father in a neighborhood altercation. But he didn’t lack for role models, surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles and, most of all, a mother who demonstrated by example the importance of serving others. Millie Quamina taught English to immigrants, helped establish credit unions in underserved areas, and participated in the civil rights movement. Foreshadowing Rosa Parks, she refused to enter a city bus through the back door. More than six decades later, a street just north of downtown Rochester is named in her honor.
“I asked her once, ‘Ma, why do you work so hard; why do you help people?’ And she said, ‘Well, God.’”
Inspired by his family doctor, one of the few Black physicians in Rochester at the time, Quamina set out on his own journey to study medicine. Arriving on the Bluff at the age of 16, he savored Pittsburgh’s vibrant jazz scene, found the love of his life—his wife, Dorothy, and earned a degree in chemistry.
Enrolling in an M.D./Ph.D. program at Boston University, he and Dorothy immersed themselves in the surrounding neighborhood, volunteering at a community center and serving as “house parents” to orphaned adolescents while he attended medical school. Torn between research and practice, “I could hear my mother and grandfather telling me to get out of the lab and help people,” he recalled. After completing his residency—and a two-year stint in the U.S. Army—he started an ophthalmology practice.
“I’ve always tried to maintain a balance between making money and making a difference,” Quamina said. His practice, Urban Eye MD Associates, brought specialized treatment for conditions such as cataracts and glaucoma to thousands of patients in diverse, underserved immigrant neighborhoods, while he served as a consulting ophthalmologist at several community health centers around Boston. In 2004, Mayor Thomas Menino presented Dr. Quamina with the city’s first Community Clinician Award—a recognition which has since been renamed “The Benjamin Andre Quamina Award for Community Care.”
In late 2023, Quamina toured the construction site of Duquesne’s new College of Osteopathic Medicine. “I’m so excited with the development of the medical center at the school,” he said. “I just was so flabbergasted when I went through the facility, although it was nuts and bolts at that time. I was proud.”
Today, the building is finished, the medical school is open, and the Quamina legacy will forever be a part of it. With annual gifts, Quamina has established the Benjamin and Dorothy Quamina Student-Run Free Clinic Fund, which will provide Duquesne medical students with hands-on experience working with patients in underserved Pittsburgh area neighborhoods, including the nearby Hill District where he lived as a student. Upon his passing, an estate gift will permanently endow the clinical outreach program.
“I am blessed,” Quamina said. “God gave me my parents, my grandparents, Dr. Henry Jordan, and the ability to do well and help others. I feel that I have the ability to help. I’ve wanted to do this all my life.”
Jean Anne Hattler, Ph.D.:
“This gift isn’t just about funding travel; it’s about investing in students’ futures.”
Name a location—any location—on the planet. Most likely, Jean Anne Hattler has been there. And there’s a good chance that she’s taken Duquesne alumni and friends there—or will in the future.
“Travel changed my life,” Hattler said. After college, she spent two months exploring Europe. Later, she moved to Japan to spend four years teaching in Defense Department schools. “These experiences profoundly influenced me…shaping my worldview and challenging me in ways I never expected.”
Still open to change, she went to Paraguay last year on a medical mission, her 110th country visited.
Hattler came to Duquesne in 1997 as an assistant professor of Education, teaching world geography and educational curricula and pedagogy. When the Center for Global Engagement (formerly the Office of International Programs) opened in 2004, she became its Director for Short-Term Study Abroad.
After guiding faculty, students and parents through dozens of orientations and programs, it became clear that interest in international travel extended beyond our campus boundaries, leading to the establishment of an Alumni and Friends Travel program, which Hattler has directed since 2005. Starting mostly with European destinations where Duquesne has a presence—such as Italy and Ireland—the offerings expanded to more exotic locales including Vietnam, Japan, Chile, Turkey Tahiti and Tanzania.
In addition to Duquesne-managed semester-long sites in Rome and Dublin, and more than 20 approved third-party programs in other countries, the University offers a variety of spring break, “Maymester” and summer opportunities for students to gain the horizon-expanding benefits of international study.
“Studying abroad is transformative,” Hattler explained. “It’s not just about seeing new places; it’s about seeing the world through new eyes. It challenges assumptions, builds confidence and teaches adaptability. It forces students out of their comfort zones, helping them navigate unfamiliar situations, communicate across cultures and approach problems with a global perspective. College is the perfect time for this experience, before careers, commitments and life take hold.”
In the Spiritan tradition, Duquesne seeks to make study abroad experiences be accessible to all, but some students are reluctant or unable to take advantage of the opportunities due to financial concerns. “I want more students to have the opportunity to travel…yet too often, the big barrier is cost,” she said.
Hattler recently made a generous estate commitment to enhance the existing Dr. Jean Anne Hattler Endowed International Study and Enrichment Fund. The fund helps students with financial need to cover expenses related to participation in University-sponsored study abroad programs.
“The endowment is my way of ensuring that financial constraints don’t stand in the way of a life-changing experience,” Hattler said. “By removing that obstacle, we open doors to students who might never have imagined studying abroad, and in so doing, we help shape a generation of globally-minded leaders. My desire is that the students who receive these scholarships will return not just with new experiences, but with new perspectives—ready to take on the world in ways they never imagined!”