Dr. Mary Jane Stamm Scholarship

On October 2, 2007, the Castro Valley Educational Foundation was honored to receive a substantial bequest from the estate of the late Dr. Mary Jane Stamm in the amount of $750,000.  The Castro Valley Educational Foundation will administer the endowment in accordance with Dr Stamm’s last will and testament in perpetuity.

Dr Stamm’s generous legacy provides for student scholarships to a four-year college and continues her commitment to the students of Castro Valley High School.  The $20,000 scholarships are to awarded annually to at least one meritorious student who would otherwise be unable to afford to attend the college of their choice.  The awards are to be distributed in $5,000 increments each year, based upon the student maintaining specific academic targets.

Scholarships

Scholarship application forms may be picked up at the CVHS Careers Office from Melanie Small. Applications are due April 15th.

Biography

Dr. Mary Jane Stamm was born in Hamilton, Washington, on November 7, 1915.  Raised in Eureka, California, she was the only child to two very proud parents, Samuel L. Stamm and Marie L. Stamm.  Samuel was a civil engineer who worked for the lumber industry.

Dr. Stamm’s precocious intellect shined from an early age. Her parents recognized this when they sent their bright daughter to the Annie Wright High School in Tacoma, Washington.  After obtaining her pre-med bachelor degree in zoology from Mills College in 1939, Dr. Stamm entered University of Oregon Medical School.  She was the only woman to graduate in her class of 1943.

Dr. Stamm’s medical career began in the Bay Area, where she worked at the University of California at San Francisco, SF General, Peralta Hospital, and Hayward Hospital.  Her roots became firmly entrenched in Castro Valley when she was the first woman to open her own medical practice in Castro Valley and the first woman OBGYN on the medical staff of Eden Hospital when it formed in 1954. 

During her life, Dr. Stamm contributed over $470,000 towards four-year college scholarships for Castro Valley High School graduates.  She did this without fanfare or recognition.  Through the $750,000 bequest in her will to the Castro Valley Educational Foundation, her legacy of those Dr. Mary Jane Stamm scholarships will continue in perpetuity for Castro Valley High School graduates.

Dr. Stamm died on February 6, 2007, in Castro Valley. She was 91 years old. She was buried with her parents in Eureka, California.