Nobel winnings to fund Cohn-Steinman professorship

by ZACH VEILLEUX

Ralph M. Steinman, head of the Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology, died just three days before winning the Nobel Prize last year. But his legacy at the university will live on: with a gift from the Steinman family and the support of over 120 donors including many of his colleagues and lab alumni, the university has established the Cohn-Steinman Professorship at Rockefeller.

The $500,000 donated by the Steinmans comes directly from Dr. Steinman’s Nobel Prize winnings. It was Dr. Steinman’s wish during his life to honor his mentor and collaborator, Zanvil A. Cohn, with whom he discovered dendritic cells and made scientific discoveries that transformed the field of immunology.

Diplomatic immunity. Zanvil Cohn (left) and Ralph Steinman in 1983.

“We believe there could be no more fitting tribute to the work of these two brilliant scientists than the establishment of a named chair in their honor. The Cohn-Steinman Professorship would honor Zan and Ralph in perpetuity and celebrate the extraordinary roles they played both on the Rockefeller campus and in the global scientific community,” says Marc Tessier-Lavigne, the university’s president.

To create the Cohn-Steinman chair, Rockefeller has received 129 gifts totaling $2.6 million toward its $3 million goal. A total of 129 gifts and pledges from Dr. Steinman’s colleagues, trainees and friends have been received by the university in amounts ranging from $100 to $1 million. One Rockefeller alumnus and former faculty member anonymously contributed $1 million to the chair in honor of Steinman and Cohn, with whom he worked while at Rockefeller.

The Steinman family has contributed an additional $250,000 from the Nobel Prize to The Steinman Family Foundation to support the careers of young scientists and science education.

“As a family we were very moved by the creation of this chair in Ralph and Zan’s honor,” says Claudia Steinman, Ralph’s wife. “The Rockefeller University was Ralph’s scientific home for 40 years. His commitment to mentoring and cooperation were hallmarks of his career as they were for his dear friend Zan Cohn. Ralph often said ‘none of us is as smart as all of us.’ We know that the establishment of The Cohn-Steinman Professorship will carry on that spirit of collaboration.”