Dr. Péter Forgách, MD, was born in Gyöngyös, Hungary in 1946. His family left Hungary after the revolution in 1956, settling in the United States. Dr. Forgách started his studies in 1959 at the Piarist fathers’ Calasanctius School for the Gifted in Buffalo, New York. This school helped him develop his openness to the world, his patriotism, his commitment to society, and also his future success.

Dr. Forgách earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN. He obtained his medical degree at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA. After his residency and fellowship training, he served in the U.S. Navy as a retina surgeon for the Pacific fleet in San Francisco between 1977-1980. He returned to Buffalo in 1980 and began his private practice.

In 1994, Dr. Forgách helped a few Hungarian students obtain scholarships in the United States. At that time, the idea of a program had not occurred to him; he was only trying to be helpful. Since then, however, more than 150 ethnic Hungarian students from Hungary, Transylvania, and the Northern Hungarian Highland) have had the chance to gain a postgraduate degree, or get several months professional experience in US hospitals. After finishing their studies, students returned to their home country and used their knowledge for the benefit of Hungarian society and economy.

Dr. Forgách and his wife founded the Stephen Gerencser Calasanctius Fund to build financial means for the scholarship program. After the first Calasanctius students graduated and returned to Hungary, they established the Calasanctius Scholarship Foundation in Budapest, Hungary in 1999.

In 2005, in recognition of his important work, Dr. Forgách was awarded with the honor of the President of the Hungarian Republic.