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Even after his passing months before the COVID-19 pandemic would emerge and reinvigorate broad public support for the field of virology in the fight against emerging viral diseases, Charles G. Smith of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., cemented his own legacy in the advancement of virological research for years to come, thanks to an endowed professorship at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s (UMSOM) Institute of Human Virology (IHV) that now bears his name.
Smith’s posthumous gift of $1.26 million to IHV, a portion of which was matched by the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative Fund Authority, was inspired by a June 2001 appearance on CNN by IHV director and co-founder Robert Gallo, MD, which highlighted Gallo’s work to detect and treat HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Gallo’s words from 20 years ago continue to ring true today for what the COVID-19 pandemic has taught much of the world about the complexity of battling a new virus.
Read more about this inspiring story in the June/July 2021 issue of SPOTLIGHT newsletter.
To learn more about IHV’s work, click here. For further information about contributing your own lasting legacy through a range of planned giving opportunities across the University of Maryland, Baltimore, click here.