Endowed Lectureships
The Annual Goldberg Family Women in Neurology Lectureship
The Emanuel Goldberg Family Lecture was established more than 30 years ago, when Emanuel Goldberg met Dr. Robert Joynt and members of the Department of Neurology. Their discussion focused on the needs to advance neurological research and how an annual lecture series would contribute to this cause. Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg, their son Paul and daughter Sandra Berbeco, conscious of the growing prevalence of neurological problems and of the need to bring more researchers and funding into the neurological sciences, endowed the Emanuel Goldberg Family Lecture. The Â鶹ÊÓƵ, the Department of Neurology and the entire University Neuroscience community will benefit far into the future from the foresight of the Goldberg family.
Emanuel and Nathalie Goldberg were both University of Rochester graduates. Mr. Goldberg served as a Trustee, and both served as life members of the President’s Society and were loyal supporters of the university and the community. Emanuel and Nathalie Goldberg have both since passed, but the dedication of the Goldberg family to the University and their shared visions will be felt for years to come.
Nathalie Goldberg was particularly passionate about promoting women in professional careers- both in business and in science- and that passion has led to the establishment of the annual Goldberg Family Women in Neurology Lectureship. Since 2013, this lectureship has provided us the opportunity to host the most prominent women in our field: (Dr. Cindy Comella (2013), Dr. Merit Cudokwicz (2014), Dr. Eva Feldman (2015), Dr. Anne Cross (2016), Dr. Lisa Shulman (2017), Dr. Allison Willis (2019), Dr. Karen Johnston (2020), Dr. Jennifer Gewandter (2021) and Dr. Allison Brashear (2023); to honor their accomplishments and inspire the next generation of women in neurology.
The Department of Neurology is indebted to these outstanding members of the university family for making possible the lecture that carries their name and also for their numerous other contributions to the University and Medical Center throughout the years.
McDonald – Okawara Education Endowment Fund and Lectureship
The McDonald – Okawara Education Endowment Fund was established 20 years ago with generous contributions by Neurosurgery resident alumni and faculty. This Education Endowment Fund commemorates the career – long commitments of Dr. Joseph V. McDonald and Dr. Shige Hsia Okawara to the education of the next generation of Neurosurgeons.
This endowment, now totaling over two million dollars, supports visiting professorships and other unique educational programs within the Department.
Dr. Joseph V. McDonald was a graduate of the Johns Hopkins Neurosurgery program in 1956 and served on the faculty at the University of Rochester until 1990, the last 16 years as Department Chair. Dr. Okawara completed his MD and PhD at Nagoya University in Japan, graduated from the University of Rochester Neurosurgery program in 1964 and served on the full time faculty until 2000. Dr. McDonald and Okawara were revered as outstanding and inspiring clinical teachers who impacted the careers of countless neurosurgeons in training. For many years Dr. McDonald and Dr. Okawara served as the only active faculty in the Department, taking call seven days per week for all neurosurgical emergencies, working side by side with resident trainees in the care of critically ill patients and always emphasizing proper diagnosis and precision surgical care.
The Department of Neurosurgery is deeply indebted to Dr. McDonald and Dr. Okawara for their many contributions to our Institution, to our trainees and to our century long legacy of educating the next generation of neurosurgeons at the University of Rochester.
This year, the McDonald – Okawara endowment provides critical support for the Great Lakes Neuromodulation Symposium as well as the invitation of Joshua M. Rosenow, MD as a keynote speaker in the Symposium. Dr. Rosenow is Professor of Neurosurgery and the Director of Functional Neurosurgery at the Northwestern University Medical Center and an international authority in this field.