A Family Legacy of Fighting Diabetes
Norma Sue Kenyon honored with Kleiman Endowed Chair
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| Norma Sue Kenyon, Ph.D., is a renowned researcher in the area of transplant immunology. |
The story behind the Martin Kleiman Endowed Chair in Diabetes Research is a tale of ties that bind. Diabetes has touched the family of the late Martin Kleiman, as well as the recipient of the endowed chair named after him. It was awarded to Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) scientist Norma Sue Kenyon, Ph.D, during a ceremony at the Batchelor Children’s Research Institute in December.
A renowned researcher in the area of transplant immunology and the director of the Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research, Kenyon’s daughter had a life-threatening encounter with diabetes when the child was only 14 months old.
Kleiman, an early advocate and benefactor of the DRI, passed away in 1995 and had supported the institute since the early 1970s. His interest in the disease was spurred after one of his sons—Gary Kleiman, the DRI’s senior development officer for major gifts—was diagnosed with diabetes.
Gary’s brother, Milwaukee businessman Glenn, is a major DRI backer who has a daughter with the disease.
Meanwhile, Martin’s widow, Marge Kleiman Mintz, is a staunch DRI ally whose husband is Daniel H. Mintz, M.D., a DRI founder who’s a Miller School professor of medicine with the DRI’s Eleanor and Joseph Kosow Diabetes Treatment Center.
“It is not often that the dean of a medical school has an opportunity to recognize an entire family that generation after generation renews its commitment to an organization that provides an extraordinary service,” Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., said at the endowed chair event.
“It is my pleasure to say that the DRI Foundation is the number one philanthropic contributor to the Miller School of Medicine,” Goldschmidt added. “That’s quite a remarkable achievement that would not have happened without the support of the Kleiman family.”
Kenyon, who was a DRI fellow and knew Martin Kleiman well, gave an acceptance speech before an audience that included DRI Foundation president and CEO Bob Pearlman and Kenyon’s father, Norman Kenyon, M.D. ’56, president of the first graduating class of University of Miami medical students.
“Marty’s compassion and warmth were incredible,” Kenyon said. “To be the recipient of the Kleiman Chair is an honor that I can’t say enough about.
“He was a truly wonderful person, and I feel like I’ve grown up working with Gary Kleiman. And to the Kleiman family, from the bottom of my heart, I will always honor his name and do everything I can to find a cure we’re all looking for.”
The esteem Kenyon has for the Kleiman family was returned in equal measure by Glenn Kleiman when his turn came to speak.
“We believe that the scientists at the DRI are the best and that they will lead us to a cure,” Kleiman said. “Only one of those scientists, of course, could occupy the Martin Kleiman chair.
“We are so honored that it is you, Dr. Kenyon. Not only because you’re such a brilliant scientist, but because your motivation is the same as my father’s—to make your child healthier. That’s a motivation I now share with my daughter as well. We respect your science and your passion, and we are honored that Martin Kleiman is in your title.”
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