The Rita Allen Foundation, established in 1953, was a modest sized Foundation until Rita Allen Cassel died in 1969 and left a substantial portion of her estate to the Foundation. She directed that most of these funds be used to advance medical research. It was from these beginnings, that the Foundation established the Rita Allen Foundation Scholars program which has supported more than one hundred scientists over the last thirty years. Many of these scholars have made important advances in medical research.
Milton E. Cassel was the long-time president of the Rita Allen Foundation. He was a strong supporter of the Foundation’s scholars program and the husband of Rita Allen Cassel. Mr. Cassel died in 2004.