Morris “Marty” Silverman
Morris “Marty” Silverman, the son of Polish immigrants, was born in Troy, N.Y., in
1912. He graduated from the Albany School of Law of Union College (now Albany Law School)
in 1936. While in school, he supported himself by working at a gas station he established in Troy
with a loan of $6,500 from Standard Oil Company. After graduation, he dealt in government
surplus automobiles and started Capital Auto Sales with his brother-in-law, Mel Rosen.
During World War II, Mr. Silverman served in the 95th Infantry Division, known as “The
Iron Men of Metz.” He was decorated with a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts,
four Battle Stars, and a Combat Infantry Badge. After the war he helped prosecute Nazi war
criminals as a major in the Judge Advocate General’s Department.
Mr. Silverman eventually returned to New York City, where he and his wife, Dorothy,
established a leasing company that arranged deals between the manufacturers of durable goods
like forklifts, heavy construction equipment, airplanes, computers, and other durable goods.
In 1984 he sold the company, which was the largest privately held, family-owned leasing
company in the country, for $40 million. He invested the money, and, after his wife’s death in
1985, Mr. Silverman formed the Marty and Dorothy Silverman Foundation.
Mr. Silverman set his philanthropic sights on the Capital Region because of his belief that
the tremendous educational and research opportunities here could grow into an internationally
known center for law, medicine, and higher education. In 1995, Mr. Silverman proposed the
concept of University Heights to the presidents of Albany Law School, Albany Medical College,
The Sage Colleges, and Albany College of Pharmacy. He put up $8.5 million to buy the 21-acre
campus of Christian Brothers Academy that provides a shared campus along New Scotland
Avenue.
He also created the Renaissance Corporation of Albany, was instrumental in renaming
the airport to the Albany International Airport, helped form the Military Museum in Saratoga,
and established the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research in April,
2000. The first recipient of the $500,000 award was Dr. Arnold J. Levine, president of
Rockefeller University and co-discoverer of the p53 protein, a gene believed to prevent many
common cancers by keeping damaged cells from multiplying.
In the last several months, he has purchased houses from Albany Medical Center so that
they can be renovated and rented to young families at affordable prices. In addition, he has given
$1 million to the Albany College of Pharmacy toward a $1.5 million endowment to fund an
endowed chair in pharmaceutical sciences. Mr. Silverman is the driving force behind efforts to
renovate the New Scotland Avenue Armory into a student residence, a $15 million project to be
financed by the State Dormitory Authority.
Mr. Silverman has been a loyal supporter of Albany Law School. He established the
Governor George E. Pataki Chair in International Commercial Law in 1998 and the Harold R.
Tyler Chair in Law and Technology. He also started the campaign for the Kate Stoneman
Professorship in Law and Democracy. Stoneman was the first woman admitted to the bar in New
York state.
Mr. Silverman, who currently resides in New York City, received an Honorary JD from
Albany Law School in 1992, an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Hunter College in
1996, and an Honorary Degree from The Sage Colleges in 1997.