Gary S. Stein, Ph.D., director of the University of Vermont Cancer Center, professor and chair of biochemistry and professor of surgery at the UVM Larner College of Medicine

Gary S. Stein, Ph.D., director of the University of Vermont Cancer Center, professor and chair of biochemistry and professor of surgery at the UVM Larner College of Medicine, was invested in a formal ceremony on October 27, 2017 as the inaugural Arthur Jason Perelman, M.D.’52 Professor in Cancer Research. 

The newly endowed professorship was created in 2014 by Arthur Perelman, who received his medical degree from UVM in 1952, and was fully funded through his estate when he died. In 2012, Perelman also established the Charlotte E. Perelman Cancer Research Fund – affectionately known as the “Charlotte Fund” – at the Larner College of Medicine and the UVM Medical Center in memory of his wife. Together, these two distinguished endowed funds created by the Perelman family will support crucial work in cancer research at UVM for generations to come.

Trained in physiology and pathology, Stein received his Ph.D. in biology from the University of Vermont in 1969. He returned to his graduate alma mater in 2012 after serving at the University of Massachusetts Medical School as the Haidak Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology, co-director of the UMass Memorial Cancer Center of Excellence, chair of the Department of Cell Biology and founding director of the UMass Human Stem Cell Bank & Registry.

In addition to his academic and administrative appointments at UVM, Stein is a co-principal investigator for the Stein/Lian Laboratory, which has pioneered establishing unique mechanisms that control stem cell proliferation and is based at the Larner College of Medicine. Collaboration is the guiding strategy for his research group as they work to translate mechanistic understanding of cancer biology to advances in cancer prevention, early detection, targeted therapy and survivorship. Stein is an inspiring leader who has consistently and effectively facilitated institutional, regional, national and global initiatives in molecular, biochemical, translational and clinical cancer research as well as clinical trials.

At the investiture and following remarks from UVM Foundation President and CEO Shane Jacobson, UVM President Tom Sullivan and Larner College of Medicine Dean Rick Morin, Gary Stein was presented with a medallion in front of family, friends, colleagues and students in the Hoehl Gallery at the Larner College of Medicine on the UVM campus. After receiving his medallion, Gary Stein invited Dr. Perelman’s sons, Dr. Robert Perelman, Carl Perelman and Jonathan Perelman, to the podium to present the family representatives with a matching medallion.

Now a revered campus tradition, the formal investiture ceremony recognizes the importance of endowed positions and is one of the highest honors the University of Vermont can bestow on its faculty members and the generous donors who make it possible. Since President Tom Sullivan began his tenure at UVM five years ago, UVM and the UVM Foundation have more than doubled the number of endowed faculty positions, a critical component of the Move Mountains campaign.

At the conclusion of the investiture ceremony, Hiromi Kasuga, the wife of Rob Perelman and the daughter-in-law of the late Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Perelman, played her original composition “Hydrangea” on the piano. This piece was written in memory of Charlotte Perelman. The second song Hiromi played was inspired by a traditional Jewish folk song that Arthur Perelman loved. A gifted pianist and composer who also performed at the 2013 celebration announcing the Charlotte Perelman Cancer Research Fund, Hiromi Kasuga’s musical talent always brought great joy to Arthur, Charlotte and the entire Perelman family.