Muhlenberg College in Allentown has announced a $7.2 million bequest, its largest gift ever from an individual.

The gift is from the Estate of Dr. Richard Williams of Palmerton and is second in size only to a $10 million challenge grant the 160-year-old college received from Atlantic Philanthropies.

Williams was a 1939 graduate of Muhlenberg who then graduated from Hahnemann University Medical School. His former nurse and longtime companion, Geraldine Christman, said the man Carbon County patients called “Doc Williams” described himself as a poor country doctor who liked saving more than spending.