Priscilla and Steven Kersten, JD’80 (as told by Steven Kersten)

Longtime supporters of the Physical Sciences Division, Priscilla and Steven Kersten recently made a $5 million gift to the Physical Sciences Division in support of the Center for Integrative Science.

Why We Give to the University of Chicago

We give to the University of Chicago because it offers a fantastic education in an incredibly stimulating environment. My time at the Law school was one of those periods in my life when I felt like my mind was being stretched. That’s where I learned to think critically and communicate effectively.

The University of Chicago was also very important to my father, Samuel Kersten, AB’35. He went to the University during the depths of the Depression. They were very hard times, but I think my father always looked back on those years with tremendous fondness. He felt it laid the groundwork for his future success.

How We Support the University

I am an active volunteer and serve on the Volunteer Leadership Caucus, the Chicago Initiative Campaign Cabinet, the Law School Visiting Committee, and the Physical Sciences Visiting Committee. Priscilla and I have been enthusiastic supporters of the Physical Sciences Division, where we have endowed a professorship in the physics department and a scholarship in the Physical Sciences Collegiate Division. Recently, we gave a gift to name the Kersten Family Atrium in the new Center for Integrative Sciences in honor of my parents, Elaine and Samuel Kersten.

Why We Support the Sciences

Nobody in the Kersten family knows anything about science—the last science course I took was as a freshman in college. But since the family business is making products for science, it was a very natural step for us to say that when we would give back to the community, it should be to support the sciences.

How Our Gift Honors My Parents

After my father died, which was very suddenly, we had to clean out his house and dispose of all my parents’ possessions. I remember going through some papers on my father’s dresser. There was a little thing he had clipped from a magazine. It was a quote from Albert Einstein that effectively said, “From those who have a lot, much is expected.” My father really took that to heart.

We think that naming the atrium in the new Center for Integrative Science after them is the perfect way to memorialize my parents and to continue the tradition of supporting the University. If my parents were here, this is exactly the kind of gift they would have made.