Constance and Martin Silver have pledged $50 million to the New York University School of Social Work, the largest private donation to a social work school in the U.S.
The gift will support a new Constance McCatherin-Silver Fellowship providing financial aid to Master of Social Work students in need who are dedicated to helping minority populations.
The gift will also establish an endowed professorship for a junior faculty member researching poverty. Other initiatives are dedicated to the study of poverty and aiming to better allocate funding, administration and services.
The gift will also help establish a McSilver Institute for Policy and Research — McSilver is an amalgam of Silver’s name and Constance McCatherin Silver’s maiden name.
In honor of the gift the school will be known at the Silver School of Social Work at N.Y.U.
Constance Silver taught at the School of Social Work for several years. She earned a B.S. in social work at the school in 1928 and an M.S.W. in 1979. In 1993 the National Association of Social Workers honored her for her work with AIDS patients.
Martin Silver is a 1958 graduate of the N.Y.U. School of Commerce (now the Stern School of Business). He worked for a time as a stockbroker and soon entered the hair goods business in the U.S. and Asia. He then became involved in the plasma collection business and his company grew to become one of the leading firms of its kind in the world.
