A generous gift from the Herman M. and Bea L. Silverstein Foundation is being
used to support both education and research initiatives within the center
as well as to disseminate advances in genetics research and technology within
the field and to the medical profession and the public.
The Silverstein Foundation gift is unique in that it supports the Center’s
efforts to improve the public’s understanding of genetics and how it
will impact all of our lives. The programs supported by the medical research
fund are consistent with the goals of the Center for Genetic Medicine to foster
genetics, genetic research, genetic technology and the impact of genetics
and genetic technology on society. The fund also sponsors promising students
and researchers in medicine and medical technology.
The Silverstein gift also supports the CGM Silverstein
Lecture Series. This lecture series has been established as a forum where
the public can hear experts address genetics topics of widespread interest
in plain English. Free and open to the public, the Silverstein Lectures bring
information about important new developments in genetics research and technology
to a broad audience.
Herman Silverstein was an eminent attorney, board chairman and president of
Chicago’s George F. Harding Museum and chairman of the board and president
of the Mid-American National Bank of Chicago. Over almost 50 years, Herman
and Bea Silverstein donated generously to the arts and the field of medicine,
with such gifts as the Herman M. Silverstein Arms and Armour Gallery at the
Art Institute of Chicago and the Herman M. Silverstein Outpatient Surgical
Waiting Room at Passavent Hospital.