Daughter Honors Father, a Longtime Orthopedic Surgeon, with Gift to Miller School
Julie and Martin Franklin said it “feels right” to commemorate the work of Julie’s father with a donation to the school he loved.
No matter how old you are, the loss of your father is something that changes your life forever.
The passing of a father, and noted orthopaedic surgeon, Ronald Hinds, M.D., is making an enormous difference at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine through the establishment of an endowment in his memory.
The Julie and Martin Franklin Family Foundation has made a gift of $3.75 million to create the Dr. Ronald B. Hinds Department of Medicine Endowed Chair. A beloved orthopedic surgeon in Miami, Dr. Hinds passed away a year ago at the age of 89.
“I wanted to do something to honor my father, and it feels right to pay tribute to him and his memory at the University of Miami,” explained Julie Franklin, who grew up in Miami. “My father loved Miami and the university and, to me and my husband Martin, the two are tied together like the roots of a tree from which all the branches grow.”
The endowed chair will support the research pursuits of a senior faculty member in the Department of Medicine at the Miller School.
“The incredibly generous gift from Julie and Martin Franklin will ensure in perpetuity the finest in scholarship and clinical accomplishment in the Department of Medicine,” said Roy Weiss, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of medicine, the Rabbi Morris I. Esformes Endowed Chair in Medicine and Endocrinology and the Kathleen & Stanley Glaser Distinguished Chair at the Miller School. “The leader who will occupy this endowed chair will set the pace for excellence not only in this generation but for generations to come. He or she will be the role model clinician setting the highest of standards for all our faculty.”
For Sir Martin Franklin, who was born the U.K. and is now a Miami-based businessman, the gift is a way to honor his late father-in-law and say thank you.
“We are very grateful to Dr. Roy Weiss for the first-class care he provided to me when I needed it,” said Franklin, who serves as chairman of Nomad Foods Limited, Element Solutions, Inc. and APi Group. “We know how important research is to move medicine forward and we are delighted to support those efforts.”
For Julie and her mother, Miriam, the endowment honors a man who meant so much to so many.
“My father was adored and beloved by all. He loved working with and helping people. He was as special as they come,” said Julie. “My husband put it best when he describes my dad. He says, ‘He may have been short in stature, but after his passing, I realized how larger than life he really was.’”
Tags: philanthropy