As a university trustee, scholarship creator and active volunteer, Herschel Seder, A&S ’39, of Chicago, has played a pivotal role in the Whiting School for nearly four decades.
Seder, an astute business leader, graduated from Hopkins in 1939 with a degree in economics. He quickly rose to success, becoming chairman and president of the Milwaukee Valve Co. in 1952. Together with his wife, the former Ruth Altshuler, now deceased, the Seders were active in Chicago philanthropy as they raised their children-John, James, Diane, and Robert.
But Seder never forgot his days in Baltimore. In addition to serving as a Hopkins trustee, Seder acted as a presidential counselor and member of the national advisory councils of the Whiting School of Engineering, the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, and the Applied Physics Laboratory.
“Herschel Seder has set the standard for what it means to share-not only his success and resources but also his time and expertise,” says Debra Lannon, senior director of development in the Johns Hopkins Office of Development.
In 2004, the family established the Herschel and Ruth Seder Professorship in Biomedical Engineering, the first endowed professorship for biomedical engineering, now held by Michael I. Miller, who heads the Center for Imaging Science. “The Biomedical Engineering professorship was the first of its kind in the highest ranked department of biomedical engineering in the country,” Miller says. “I am honored to represent Mr. Seder in the Johns Hopkins University world.”
In addition, the family has awarded 47 scholarships to 25 students since the inception of the Ruth and Herschel Seder Scholarship Fund in 1974. These students have become teachers, inventors, scientists, physicians, lawyers, and business leaders. At least one, Christopher D. Riemann M.D., Eng ’89, an ophthalmologist at the Cincinnati Eye Institute, has established his own fund in memory of the support he received from the Seders.
“Mr. Seder’s vision and generosity were there for me at a pivotal point in my life,” says Riemann. One of the first things I did shortly after I finished training and began working was to establish the Riemann Scholarship Fund at Hopkins. I wanted to do for others what Mr. Seder did for me.”
The Seders’ offspring have followed their parents’ example. Two sons, John and Bob, are Hopkins alumni, as is the Seders’ daughter-in-law, Deborah Harmon. Bob Seder currently serves on the university board of trustees, in addition to being chief of the Cellular Immunology Section at NIH’s Vaccine Research Center. He and his wife, Deborah, have established the William R. Brody Faculty Scholar Award.
In a June 2010 letter to honor the Seder Scholarships, Johns Hopkins President Ronald J. Daniels wrote to Seder: “You epitomize all that we hope our students will become, and we are truly fortunate to have you as a Johns Hopkins alumnus.”