Pavey Family Eminent Professorship established at Case Western Reserve University

The Pavey Family Eminent Professorship has been established at Case Western Reserve University via a $5 million gift from university trustee Bob Pavey and his wife Trisha and their family. The professorship was established to support the work of Paul Tesar, PhD, who is the director of the Institute for Glial Sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

According to an article on Case Western Reserve University’s website, Eric W. Kaler, the university’s president, was quoted as saying of the gift and the professorship, “Bob and his family have long supported initiatives, programs and professorships across the university that advance excellence in teaching and research and, importantly, that cultivate collaborative environments for our faculty and students to innovate. The Pavey Family Eminent Professorship is a generous commitment that will help to ensure our future of high-impact, groundbreaking discovery at Case Western Reserve.”

The Pavey Family Eminent Professorship is the university’s first-ever eminent professorship and the most significant financial gift to fund a faculty position. It provides resources beyond that of an endowed professorship. The Pavey Family Eminent Professorship will be held by Paul Tesar, PhD, and will support his work in the development of therapies for neurological disease. He is a pioneering researcher in stem cell biology and neuroscience and has been instrumental in the research of non-neuronal cells (“glia”) and the medicines that target these cells.

Speaking of his appointment to the position, Tesar said, “I’m deeply grateful to Bob Pavey and his family for their vision and support. This professorship enables us to accelerate discoveries in glial biology and translate them into new, urgently needed therapies for neurological diseases. It gives us the flexibility to pursue bold ideas, build new collaborations and train the next generation of scientists focused on solving some of the most urgent challenges in medicine.”

The Paveys have been supporters of the university for decades, with their contributions to the university including giving to the President’s Strategic Initiative Fund, the School of Medicine, the Weatherhead School of Management, the creation of the Morgenthaler-Pavey Startup Competition, and the establishment of the Pavey Family Professorship of Innovative Imaging—Revolutionizing the Worlds of Education and Medicine, which is held by Mark Griswold, PhD. 

Pavey said of the establishment of the Pavey Family Eminent Professorship, “World-class people are what you build a university around. If you want to make a real difference, you invest in individuals who are doing important work and have the ability to change their field. Case Western Reserve has long been Ohio’s technology university. It’s the kind of place that needs to be entrepreneurial—working with exceptional faculty on technologies that can move beyond the lab and into the world. Brain diseases are among the most important challenges in medicine today. At Case Western Reserve, and in Cleveland, we are fortunate to have on our faculty Dr. Paul Tesar, a world leader in addressing these challenges. The most important things don’t happen overnight. If you can look ahead and support the right people at the right time, you can help make progress on problems that truly matter—to the university, to the community and to the world.”

For more information about Case Western Reserve University, visit the schools’ website.