The Zilber Family Foundation is giving $2.5 million to support scholarships at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Joseph J. Zilber School of Public Health.
The gift to the UWM Foundation brings the Zilber Foundation’s total support for the school to more than $12 million since 2007.
The gift will support the Vera Zilber Public Health Scholarship Fund, which was established in 2014 and has benefited more than 75 graduate students. The scholarship will now also be available to undergraduate students going forward.
“I am deeply grateful for the Zilber Family Foundation’s incredibly generous support of UWM and its devotion to making public health a priority within our community,” said Mark Mone, chancellor of UWM. “Twelve years ago, the Zilber Foundation made a transformative gift to create the Joseph J. Zilber School of Public Health. This additional heartfelt gift reflects the Zilber Family Foundation’s ongoing commitment to our students and the communities they will ultimately serve.”
The Zilber School, located on the site of the former Pabst Brewing Co., offers master’s and doctoral programs in biostatistics, community and behavioral health promotion, environmental health sciences and epidemiology, and a master’s program in public health policy and administration. In 2018, the school added a Bachelor of Science in Public Health program.
“The Vera Zilber Public Health Scholarships have been a critical force in attracting and retaining the best and brightest students,” said Ron Perez, dean of the Joseph J. Zilber School Of Public Health. “With this significant addition to the fund, the school can expand the talent pipeline in population health for our region, and I anticipate that we will be able to double our enrollment in the next decade. I am very thankful to the Zilber Family Foundation for having the foresight to make this generous gift.”
The gift supports UWM’s ongoing fundraising effort, called Made in Milwaukee, Shaping the World: The Campaign for UWM. It is the school’s largest-ever fundraising campaign, having raised more than $200 million to date.
The Zilber Family Foundation, founded by Milwaukee native and real estate developer Joseph Zilber, provides grants to nonprofit organizations to address basic needs, help ensure personal safety, increase access to social and economic opportunity and improve the quality of life in neighborhoods.
“Joe and Vera Zilber wanted to leave a legacy in the city of Milwaukee, and this gift for scholarships is part of extending that legacy,” said Gina Stilp, executive director of the Zilber Family Foundation. “Joe had a passion for improving the wellbeing of our citizens, and he believed this school could play a critical role in the future of our city. We are proud to support UWM’s Joseph J. Zilber School of Public Health in advancing his vision for a healthier Milwaukee.”
