Paul H. Silverman

Paul Hyman Silverman (October 8, 1924 – July 15, 2004) was an American medical researcher in the fields of immunology, epidemiology, and parasitology. He was recognized for his research on stem cells and on the human genome.

Early life and education Silverman was born on October 8, 1924, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received a bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University.

Academic career Silverman returned to the United States when he was 39 years old. He then accepted a position at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign before moving to the University of New Mexico in 1972. At the University of New Mexico, he and his team developed a killed malaria vaccine based on Jonas Salk's polio vaccine. He became Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at the University of New Mexico in 1975, and joined the State University of New York as their Provost for Research and Graduate Studies in 1978. In 1980, he became president of the University of Maine, a position he held until 1984. In 1984, he returned to research as a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He also served at the University of California, Berkeley as Associate Laboratory Director for Life Sciences and Director of the Donner Lab. Also in 1994, he was elected to the World Academy of Art and Science. In the fall of 2003, he gave the commencement speech to the class of Roosevelt University, from which he received an honorary doctorate of human letters.

Personal life Silverman met his wife, Nancy Josephs, while he was serving in the Army during World War II. The two married on May 20, 1945, and had two children. Paul Silverman died on July 16, 2004, of complications resulting from a bone marrow transplant he had received to treat his myelofibrosis.