Impact Story: Robert Shaw ’70, ’81, and Charlene Shaw ’70

Members of the Henry and Emma Rogers Society, Lifetime Giving Society, and The Founders Society-NULC (Deans’ Circle)

This story was published in The Founders Society Impact Stories, a publication that highlights leadership donors to various areas of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Read the whole issue here.

For Robert and Charlene Shaw of Evanston, Illinois, meeting as undergraduates at Northwestern’s Sheil Catholic Center led to marriage upon earning their degrees in 1970. Recalled Mr. Shaw, a mechanical engineer, “The U.S. Navy commissioned me one day, Charlene and I graduated the next day, and we got married the following Saturday.” 

The Shaws’ mutual love for their alma mater has inspired them to give back. Since 2007, Mr. Shaw has volunteered his engineering and management expertise to the NUvention Program—a course that transforms students into entrepreneurs. Through NUvention, Mr. Shaw met former faculty member, Teresa Woodruff, PhD, a national champion of sex inclusive research to improve the health of women and men.

For 28 years, Mr. Shaw co-owned Milex Products, a medical device company in the obstetrics and gynecology field. His work gave him a deep appreciation for women’s health, leading to the Shaws’ generous support of sex-based studies at Feinberg. In 2018, the couple established the Shaw Family Pioneer Awards in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology to support early-stage career investigators. Said Mr. Shaw, “Too little had been done in the past to consider gender differences when developing medical treatments that are safe and effective for women.”

To date, the Shaw Awards of $10,000 to $20,000 have funded 11 sex-inclusive studies, from sex influences on traumatic brain injury to kidney disease. In 2023, a Shaw Award allowed Hong Zhao, MD, PhD, research professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, to collect pilot data needed to successfully compete for a $1.9 million National Institutes of Health grant. Her research focuses on estrogen signaling, astrocyte reactivity, and sex differences in Alzheimer’s disease.

“Even the smallest donation to support early research ideas can make a significant impact,” said Mr. Shaw. “We are very happy to have helped advance this innovative work to the next level.”

The Shaws made a recent pledge to further support the grant program. This gift will fund basic science research that focuses on sex differences in aging in collaboration with the Potocsnak Longevity Institute at the medical school. The couple has also committed to a $250,000 outright bequest to continue the awards when they pass.