Dr. Ralph Waldo Gerard and Dr. Harold H. Dubner Endowed Scholarship Fund

The Dr. Ralph Waldo Gerard and Dr. Harold H. Dubner Endowed Scholarship Fund was established in 2002 by Dr. Dubner to honor the legacy of his mentor and collaborator, Ralph W. Gerard, MD, PhD.

Dr. Gerard was a neurophysiologist and professor at the University of Chicago, University of Michigan and the University of California, Irvine. As a child, he was interested in mathematics and chess. He completed high school in just two years and started college at the University of Chicago at age 15. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1919 and finished his medical training at Rush Medical College in 1925. Dr. Gerard is well-known for his work on the nervous system, nerve metabolism, psychopharmacology and the biological basis of schizophrenia. During his career, he wrote more than 500 scientific papers and nine books, including Factors Controlling Brain Potentials in the Cat which he co-authored with Dr. Dubner. Dr. Gerard received many awards and accolades for his outstanding contributions to neuroscience, including a medal from Charles University in Prague. He died in 1974.

Dr. Dubner was a 1937 graduate of Rush Medical College and earned his medical degree at 22. He was vice president of the former Sheridan Road Hospital prior to its acquisition by Rush and was also very successful in the real estate business. Dr. Dubner met and married his wife, Annette, while he was working at Sheridan Road Hospital. Annette was completing a degree in social psychology at Northwestern University when they met and subsequently went to work for her husband. Together they had three children – two sons and a daughter. Dr. Dubner died in 2004, preceeding the death of his wife.