About Dr. Jill Gerson, Sponsor of the Gerson Awards
Dr. Jill Gerson received a DSW from the Graduate Center at CUNY and an MSW from Hunter College School of Social Work. She joined the faculty at Lehman in 2005 and, while teaching there, developed an introductory course for human service workers aimed at enhancing their skills in working with families facing the complex challenges of poverty and social injustice. Prior to her retirement from Lehman in 2013, Dr. Gerson focused her social work practice on program development for under-served youth and families with young children. After many years as a New Yorker, she currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio.
In 2019 Dr. Gerson has made a financial pledge to Herbert H. Lehman College Foundation, Inc. to establish an endowed fund that will support students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in Social Work.
The Benjamin S. Gerson Family Foundation was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1968 as a charitable fund by Eleanor Rosenfeld Gerson (1915-2000) and her husband Benjamin S. Gerson (1911-1972) when Gerson sold his solderless electric terminals business, ETC, Inc. to ITT Corp.
The charitable fund was converted to a private family foundation in 1973 in memory of Benjamin Gerson. After her husband's death, Eleanor Gerson was the driving force behind the foundation's organized charitable activity. Under her leadership, the foundation supported greater Cleveland programs and organizations that emphasized self-empowerment, family preservation, and community-building.
GPNYC is grateful to Dr. Gerson for her generous support.