The Wistar Gala

Saturday, October 29, 2011 - 6:30pm

Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia
One Logan Square, Philadelphia, PA
Black tie

Presented at the Wistar Gala, the Wistar Award is a biennial award given to an individual who reflects the qualities of compassion, integrity, generosity, commitment, and vision that the Institute’s founding members demonstrated.

This year's gala honored Adele K. Schaeffer.

A lifelong champion and advocate for biomedical research, Adele Schaeffer has been an active Trustee of The Wistar Institute board for more than 20 years. She served as Chair of the first Wistar Gala in 1994 and has continued in this role for each Wistar Gala since. She also serves as Chair of the development committee and is a member of the capital campaign steering committee. Through all her efforts on behalf of Wistar, she has helped raise over $1 million for our life-saving research.

In addition to her commitment to Wistar, she is also a Trustee of the Moore College of Art and Design, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and a Trustee Emeritus of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a current member of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, serves on the Orchestra’s Academy of Music committee, and is past President and current board member of the National Liberty Museum.

This year’s Wistar Gala raised $153,000 and will benefit the Building Wistar, Changing the World campaign. This is a five-year, $35 million initiative which will support the construction of a seven-story, state-of-the-art research tower, build scientific capacity through the addition of at least 10 new laboratories, and ensure the future financial stability of the Institute.

For more information about The Wistar Gala, please call Elyse Hoffmann at 215.898.3955.

View Wistar Gala invitation and RSVP card.

Wistar Gala Committee

Penny Fox, Chair
Suzanne Binswanger
Ira Brind
D. Walter Cohen
Brian Dovey
Jane Kaufman
Helen Pudlin
Fran Tobin
Daniel Wheeler

Past Wistar Award Recipients

Robert A. Fox, 1994 Recipient

Robert A. Fox was the first recipient of the Wistar Award. Since joining the Wistar Board of Trustees in 1974, Fox has played an active role in the Institute’s governance and financial stewardship, as secretary (1974-1982), chairman on the finance committee (1975-1984), and president (1984-1994). He initiated a long-range planning process and spearheaded the development of five-year plans for the Institute, beginning in 1988. Fox’s gifts make him the most generous supporter of the Institute since its founding in 1892.

Doris Rousso Taxin, 1999 Recipient

Doris Taxin helped raise over two million dollars to establish The Wistar Institute's Albert R. Taxin Brain Tumor Research Center after her husband, Albert, died in 1993 of a brain tumor. She has been a member of The Wistar Institute's Board of Trustees since 1993 and Board secretary since 1994. Since its inception, the annual Albert R. Taxin Golf Classic has raised almost $1.5 million for brain tumor research at Wistar.

Kevin M. Tucker, 2005 Recipient

Kevin M. Tucker has been a member of the Wistar Board of Trustees since 1993. He chaired Wistar’s Board from 1998 until 2005. During his tenure as chair, Wistar recruited a new president, approved a new strategic plan that called for expansion of the Institute’s faculty and renewal of its facility, and made remarkable strides in fundraising and board development, among many other achievements.

Harold M. Davis, 2007 Recipient

Harold M. Davis has been a member of the Wistar Board of Trustees for more than 20 years. With his wife Eleanor, the Davises support breast cancer research at the Institute. The Davises’ interest in cancer research stems from personal experience. Harold lost a brother to cancer, and Eleanor survived breast cancer. "When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1979 at a young age and Hal became involved at Wistar, I thought it was a perfect opportunity for us to invest in basic biomedical research – to help find a cause, and eventually a cure,” said Eleanor.

Ira Brind, 2009 Recipient

President of Brind Investments, Inc., Ira Brind has been a Wistar board member for more than 20 years. During this time, he served as treasurer from 1988 to 1994 and as chairman from 1994 to 1998. His active leadership during that decade enabled the Institute to pursue its scientific mission through faculty expansion, and many young recruits have matured into innovative and productive investigators who compromise Wistar’s world-class faculty today.