Louis Fiore, D62

About him

Ever since the seventh grade, Louis Fiore, D62, has wanted to be a dentist. He started saving money for dental school by playing the saxophone in a polka band and later moved on to the nightclub circuit, playing "anything and everything" he could to set aside some cash. Combined with his mother's wages from the carpet mill where she worked near Fiore’s hometown of Thompsonville, Conn., the money he earned from his music and from painting houses during the summer was enough to get him through two years at the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine.

And then the money ran out. "When I realized I couldn’t pay for school any longer and would have to drop out, I went to see some people in the financial aid office," Fiore recalls. "They helped me get a scholarship and find some good loans so that I could complete my studies. With all that in mind, how could I not give back to Tufts?"

About their gift

Together with his wife, Jean, Fiore recently made a significant gift in support of the Vertical Expansion Initiative at the School of Dental Medicine. The Fiores' gift will name the dean's new suite of offices on the 15th floor of the expansion. This initiative will add approximately 95,000 square feet to the school’s main campus building at One Kneeland Street in downtown Boston.

Why he gives to Tufts

"It has always been my ambition to give something back to Tufts as a token of appreciation for the opportunity that the school gave me," says Fiore. "When I look at all that I have today, I know that I owe it all to Tufts."