Thomas J. Coady

This fund was established in 2015 by Maria Coady in honor of her son, Thomas, to support a junior or senior majoring in biology and with a strong interest in Healthcare Disparities.

Thomas Coady was born on August 12, 1992 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He lived in Massachusetts, the south of France, Colorado and Rhode Island before moving to Gainesville in 2003. Thomas attended high school in Gainesville and, upon graduating in 2010, became a student at the University of Florida.

At UF, Thomas was a Biology major (pre-medicine) and minored in Healthcare Disparities. During his four years at UF, he worked in several capacities: with immigrant families in healthcare and ESL under a Ford Foundation sub grant alongside his mother; at the Veterans Administration Hospital; and in the UF pediatric neurology oncology laboratory where he had just completed an application to begin conducting surgeries on rats.

Thomas was involved in a tragic pickup truck/motorcycle accident that took his life December 6, 2014. He was a methodical thinker. He frequently stated that “lying is way overrated,” and always played by the rules. Thomas’ character, commitment to helping others, and advocating for the underserved was evident through his remarkable contributions to the greater Gainesville community.