The Zilber Family Foundation is giving $20 million to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Joseph J. Zilber College of Public Health to support faculty excellence and student achievement.
Specifically, the funding will support two endowments: the Zilber Faculty Excellence Fund and the Vera Zilber Student Program Fund.
“The Zilber Family Foundation’s landmark gift is a vote of confidence in UWM and the college’s future,” said UWM chancellor Mark Mone. “It reinforces our pillars of faculty excellence, top-tier research, student access and achievement.”
The gift, the single largest donation in UWM’s history, was announced Wednesday morning.
“Zilber Family Foundation is honored to continue Joe and Vera Zilber’s legacy,” said Gina Stilp, executive director of the foundation, describing it as one of the largest gifts given to a school of public health anywhere in the country.
“The $20 million commitment will continue to promote public health, prevent disease and advance health equity in Milwaukee for years to come,” Stilp added.
Joe Zilber, the founder of Milwaukee-based real estate development firm Zilber Ltd., donated $10 million in 2007 to support the development of the UW-Milwaukee Graduate College of Public Health. The college was established in Milwaukee’s Brewery District, a mixed-use neighborhood that was developed by Zilber at the former Pabst brewery complex, as an intentional way to support revitalization and investment in the area just northwest of downtown. UWM’s main campus is located on the city’s East Side.
Joan Nesbitt, vice chancellor for university advancement at UWM, said the gift marked a new phase in a longstanding partnership.
“With this investment, the Zilber Family Foundation is making a bold statement about the power of public-private partnerships to transform communities,” Nesbitt said. “The gift’s impact will reach far beyond Milwaukee, and it positions UWM as a leader in philanthropic initiatives that transform lives.”
Scholarships and scholarship
Amy Harley, interim dean of the Zilber College of Public Health said the new endowment, which Mone described as “forever funds,” would increase both the school’s ability to educate more graduate and undergraduate students, while also helping to support and grow research projects.
While previous Zilber Family Foundation funds have previously gone to graduate-level scholarships, these new dollars will help undergraduates as well, Harley said.
“We will be able to offer significant, multi-year scholarships to our undergraduate students for the first time,” Harley told local officials and university supporters on Wednesday. “Being able to remove financial barriers to higher education, and train a public health workforce of professionals from all different backgrounds and socioeconomic positions, is public health.”
Funds earmarked for The Zilber Faculty Excellence Fund will allow the college to recruit and retain high-caliber faculty teachers, researchers and students, the university said, while also sustaining public health research aimed at improving regional health outcomes.
For instance, one researcher at the college, Amy Kalkbrenner, is studying how exposure to more than 100 air toxins affects pregnancy and fetuses. She, and her partners across Wisconsin and throughout the Midwest, are gearing up to make major contributions about the role these toxins play in contributing to preterm birth and other poor birth outcomes, according to UWM. And a lab led by Zilber College of Public Health researcher Todd Miller is partnering with the Milwaukee Health Department to conduct regular monitoring of Milwaukee beaches for biological, chemical and water quality indicators. Miller’s lab is also conducting research on the health effects of blue-green algae blooms in Wisconsin lakes and waterways, the university said.
Impact on the community
For Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, the impact of this latest Zilber Family Foundation gift will be felt not only in the number of students who graduate and go on to serve in public health roles in Milwaukee, but in helping to tackle persistent public health crises in the city.
“Health equity has never been more important in our community, and that is for a number of reasons. Among, them, is the fact that infant mortality rates are three times higher among babies born to black women than their white counterparts, blood-lead levels are twice as high for black children as they are for white children, that the life expectancy for black residents is 70 years in this city, while it is between 77 and 80 years for white and Hispanic residents, respectively,” Johnson said. “So, we all know about the healthcare disparities that are present, right here in our community, right here in Milwaukee. And yes, of course, racism impacts health as well, so if we’re to improve everybody’s health we have to be thoughtful, and access is key. Partnerships are the way forward, as we seek ways to work through these issues our community faces.”
