MCG grad and wife supporting medical and nursing students through gift

Though coming from two different backgrounds, Wiley Black, MD, (MCG ’62) and his wife, Judy Seitz Black, are life partners who share similar values and priorities.

Wiley Black grew up on a farm in rural Georgia, and Judy Seitz Black grew up in a town near Philadelphia, but their appreciation for education and the opportunities it affords are the basis for their establishment of the Wiley S. Black, MD, and Judy Seitz Black scholarship endowment – benefiting both medical and nursing students.

A graduate of the Medical College of Georgia in 1962, Wiley Black remembers having access to a $5,000 loan to get through medical school, and he and his wife struggling for 13 years to pay it off.

“We wanted to make it easier for other people coming along, especially so they won’t end up with so much debt,” Wiley said.

To date, the Wiley scholarship, established in 2012, has assisted dozens of students in achieving their dreams of a career in medicine or nursing. And because it is an endowment, it will benefit students in perpetuity. The Blacks take satisfaction in making life easier for future generations through scholarships, by funding during their lifetime so that they may take the opportunity to know about the lives of the students they are benefiting.

Judy remembers working from age 16 to 18 to help her parents send her to nursing school.

“Nursing opened a whole new world for me,” said Judy. “I want students to love what they do, to be knowledgeable and to take care of their patients to the best of their ability. They need to seize the day and take advantage of opportunities,” she added.

After working as a nurse in a local hospital for a year after graduation, Judy recalls she was ready for a new and perhaps more exciting adventure.

She joined the Air National Guard as a flight nurse and found it exhilarating. She recounts flying to Germany to bring soldiers back to the United States, mostly Texas. In fact, it was at the former Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio where she met Wiley, who was serving as a flight surgeon in the Air Force.

A medical internship in Athens landed the couple in Gainesville, Georgia. Wiley also completed a residency in general surgery at Emory and Grady in Atlanta and, after practicing for two years, completed a fellowship in vascular surgery at New York University Hospital.

The Blacks returned to Gainesville, where Wiley had an active practice until he retired in 2000. Since then, the Blacks have enjoyed spending time with family – they have two daughters and several grandchildren – and Wiley has returned to his agricultural roots by investing in a farm. When time allows, he also enjoys golf.

The Blacks have one word of advice for nursing and medical students today. “Persevere,” they say. And they are making it easier for their scholarship recipients to follow this sage advice.

For information about how you can support nursing or medical students at Augusta University, please contact Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement via email or call 706-721-4001.