In the largest private donation to a school of social work in the United States, Constance and Martin Silver have pledged $50 million to the New York University School of Social Work.
The gift will be used to support the Constance McCatherin-Silver Fellowship, which provides financial aid to M.S.W. students in need who are dedicated to helping minority populations; to establish an endowed professorship for a junior faculty member researching poverty; and to promote other new initiatives dedicated to the study of poverty and to better allocate funding, administration, and services.
The funds also will help lay the groundwork for a planned McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Practice. (âMcSilverâ is a combination of Silverâs name and her maiden name, McCatherin.) In recognition of this historic gift, the NYU Board of Trustees has renamed the School as the Silver School of Social Work.
Both Silvers are alumni of NYU. Constance Silver earned a B.S. in social work in 1978 and an M.S.W. in 1979; she also received a Ph.D. from the Union Institute and University in 1983. Martin Silver is a 1958 graduate of NYUâs School of Commerce (now the Stern School of Business).
