FOX 21 News, KQDS-DT

DULUTH-University of Minnesota-Duluth Medical School alumni applauded after hearing the amount given to the school by an anonymous donor: $1.6 million.

That's the largest donation in the school's forty year history - an anniversary also celebrated on Friday.

"We have the ability to spend the money. Often donors have a particular disease or a program in mind that they want to sponsor. But this donor has allowed us to decide what our priorities are and spend it how we see fit," Gary Davis, Regional Campus Dean of the UMD Medical School, said.

During the happy occasion, the dean emphasized the school's main goal: educating rural and native doctors.