ASU donor’s scholarship continues to spark discovery for students

The scholarship Martin Wojcik created in 2018 to support student researchers at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute marked the culmination of a career spent building bridges between institutions and the people who believe in their missions.

Wojcik spent more than 40 years in the philanthropy space, including 13 years working at and around ASU helping to develop support for the institute. Before ASU, he was in the nonprofit sector in Chicago, managing teams in community public health where funding was always the bottleneck. 

“I realized very quickly as a manager that there was never enough money to let people earn what they should have been earning or be staffed properly,” he said. “The problem isn’t talent. The problem is paying for it.”

That realization drove him to shift from administration to fundraising because, in his words: “No money, no mission. No money, no staff. No permanence.”

Through years of cultivating relationships with foundations and individual donors, first in Chicago and later at institutions like Northwestern University and Mayo Clinic, Wojcik came to realize that “serious giving” only happens when there’s a genuine emotional connection.

That emotional connection came full circle at Biodesign, where he saw an opportunity to support students in a way that could change their lives — and potentially the future of science.

While at Mayo Clinic, Wojcik helped secure funding for a program called the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, which placed students into research labs and immersed them in the scientific method. The impact, he said, was unmistakable.

“You can almost guarantee anybody who goes into a competitive application for summer research as an undergraduate is probably going to want to go into science,” he said. “Young folks who have a real hands-on laboratory experience … they tend to convert in some way.”

The pattern repeated closer to home. Two of Wojcik’s nephews — both ASU graduate students — took part in similar research experiences.

“They weren’t just swabbing out test tubes. They were doing real work,” he said. One went on to attend medical school, and the other continued their higher education in STEM. “The fire is there, and they usually stick with it.”

Through his time working at ASU, Wojcik never let go of the sense of possibility he saw at Biodesign. After retiring and returning to the Valley, he reconnected with colleagues at the ASU Foundation and found himself once again drawn to the mission.

“I always had a passion for biomedical science,” he said. “And this idea of what happens in the lab and what actually sparks someone’s commitment to discovery stuck with me.”

That passion led to the creation of the Martin Wojcik Scholarship, which supports students engaged in hands-on research at Biodesign. But unlike some donors, Wojcik doesn’t want a say in who receives the award.

“I want nothing to do with it,” he said, firmly. “Donors don’t make decisions. You provide the money. You give it to us as part of a trusting arrangement — you trust that we will do the right thing.”

His view was shaped by years at Mayo Clinic, where donor involvement in selection processes was strictly off-limits. He applies the same philosophy to his own giving. 

“I would just as soon have nothing to do with it other than know that the people who are expressing an interest know what they’re getting into. And I’m very happy to just deal with the outcome.”

Instead, Wojcik focuses on the bigger picture, creating opportunities for students who might one day discover new treatments, technologies or ideas that change the world. His goal is to give them the kind of early spark that can light the way toward a career in science.