1. A Natural Segue

A Natural Segue Retired hospice physician Ralph Caldroney '72 turns a planned gift into immediate impact with new lecture sponsorship.

Barbara Elliott
September 15, 2025

"Ralph commented when he made his gift that he hopes it will inspire others to follow suit. We're so grateful for his philanthropy and for the gift of getting to know the Caldroneys. Susan and Ralph are such good people - engaged and dedicated to the community." - Mudd Center Director Melissa Kerin

When Ralph Caldroney '72 retired from his internal medicine practice in Lexington, Kentucky, he and his wife, Susan, decided to relocate to the Shenandoah Valley. The Lexington, Virginia area was a natural fit, and they moved to Buena Vista in 2014. Caldroney quickly became involved in the Rockbridge County community, eventually serving as medical director for Hospice of Rockbridge County. He also found himself drawn back to Washington and Lee University, occasionally speaking to the medical ethics class taught by associate professor of philosophy Erin Taylor and attending lectures sponsored by the Roger Mudd Center for Ethics.

Caldroney attended several Mudd Center lectures during this past year's series: "How We Live and Die: Stories, Values and Communities." He found the W&L students with whom he interacted to be smart, perceptive and inquisitive and is pleased the center welcomes participation by community members.

Impressed by the range and quality of the Mudd Center presentations, Caldroney previously committed a $250,000 planned gift to the center for his 50th reunion gift in 2022. However, after such a positive experience attending this year's lecture series, he decided to fast-track his support. For each of the next five years, his $5,000 per-year gift will sponsor an annual lecture. "It was a natural segue," Caldroney says. "This way, I can enjoy some of the fruits of my labor while I am still alive."

"When Ralph mentioned his interest in supporting an annual lecture for the next five years, I was delighted, but also surprised," says Mudd Center Director Melissa Kerin. "I didn't realize he had a long history with the Mudd Center and felt such a commitment to its programing." While Kerin and Caldroney often shared brief exchanges after the center's events he attended during the 2024-2025 program, there was a qualitative change in their discussions after the panel: "How We Die: A Panel Investing the Ethics of Medial Aid in Dying."

This event was intended to be an in-person panel with participants who shared a spectrum of perspectives on medical aid in dying-a contentious practice that is currently only legal in 10 states and the District of Columbia. Due to a snowstorm that hit Lexington on the day of the panel, the Mudd Center team pivoted and held the event as a webinar. Given the charged content around what is often termed "physician-assisted suicide," the Mudd Center also provided an in-person discussion the day after the webinar, which Caldroney attended.

"In a very generous way, he really helped navigate the discussion," said Kerin. "He offered a seasoned and sensitive sensibility about hospice/palliative care versus medically aided dying. At the time, I didn't realize he was once the physician at Connections Plus Healthcare and Hospice of Rockbridge County, but clearly, he had a great deal of experience and insight to share. Students asked a lot of questions that he could engage in thoughtful ways. For me, that event became the turning point in Ralph's commitment to the center."

After that session, Caldroney approached Kerin to express how pleased he was with the program. He knew it was a difficult topic, and the experience motivated him to provide support in a more immediate way than through a planned gift.

Caldroney soon followed up with Kerin to formalize his commitment. "When he came to my office to discuss it, he was in socks and a dirty T-shirt. It turned out he had been in the middle of roofing a Habitat for Humanity house," Kerin recalls. The spirit of that meeting matched Caldroney's down-to-earth, generous nature. "It was the epitome of generosity; he was taking a few minutes away from his volunteer work to donate money to an ethics center."

Caldroney made the gift with no strings attached. "I don't want to be directly involved in selecting topics or speakers. I want to stand at arm's length," he says.

A native of Newport News, Virginia, Caldroney attended W&L when students wore coats and ties to Saturday morning classes. After graduation, he attended the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. Susan Caldroney, a California native, attended Mary Baldwin College. After a brief return to California, she moved to Richmond, where she and Ralph met.

Caldroney continued his training at Medical University of South Carolina and the University of Florida in Gainesville before moving to Kentucky. He spent seven years on the teaching medical staff at University of Kentucky Medical Center, followed by more than 25 years in private practice. In addition to his practice, Caldroney served eight years in the Army Reserves, volunteering on Sept. 12, 2001, with deployments to Landstuhl, Germany; Camp Bucca in Iraq and Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.

Although Caldoney has now retired, he has not stopped giving back to the community. He serves as president of the board of directors of Connections Plus Healthcare and on the boards of the Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity, Valley Program for Aging Services and the Community Foundation for Rockbridge, Bath and Alleghany counties.

According to Kerin, "Ralph commented when he made his gift that he hopes it will inspire others to follow suit. We're so grateful for his philanthropy and for the gift of getting to know the Caldroneys. Susan and Ralph are such good people - engaged and dedicated to the community."