5 Questions: Laurie Silvers

Media entrepreneur and Chair of UM’s Board of Trustees. UM psychology major, '74
Laurie Silvers

1. What are your top priorities as Chair of UM’s Board of Trustees? 

Silvers: As Chair of the Board, I will aggressively support the University’s continuing commitment to academic excellence and outstanding healthcare. We are an exceptional institution with some of the very best and brightest stars among our faculty and students. I see my obligation to do whatever I can to promote our status as a highly respected institution and to provide a clear path forward to grow even brighter.

2. Where do you see UM in the next 10 years and what excites you most about the University’s future? 

Silvers: We are a comparably young university and as a result there is an excitement and energy to what is possible. Our past is a springboard to our future—the future of creating new forms of teaching and research; the future of new forms of healthcare; the future of creating and molding graduates who are innovative and bold. That is where I want UM to be in ten years and beyond.

3. As an Arts and Sciences alumna, what do you see as the value of an arts and sciences education in the 21st century? 

Silvers: Education is a multi-faceted experience. An arts and sciences education exposes students to a world of diverse thoughts and ideas, which promote the development of a well-rounded intellectual perspective. At UM, we are committed to making this a significant goal for every student and have developed innovative programs and curricula to promote these initiatives.

4. Why is civic and social engagement necessary for women today who are shifting their roles from volunteers to philanthropists and donating not only their time but their money to help different causes?

Silvers: Women today have opportunities that were not available in the recent past.  As a result, we have become significant influencers in all areas of contemporary society. To be best equipped to successfully maneuver as leaders, women need to have an understanding as to what they can do to influence as well as support causes they care about. Shifting from volunteer to philanthropist allows us further degree of support to ensure that charitable causes are stable and sustained.

5. Over the years, you have made impactful gifts to the University of Miami. Would you please help us understand what motivated you to make each gift? When it comes to our graduates and their prospects for the future, what advice would you offer them?

Silvers: Every gift I have made to the University of Miami has been made with the single goal of supporting the best educational opportunities for our students. Whether it has been to provide scholarships, funding to attract faculty scholars or innovative research—all have been made with this one goal in mind. When our students graduate from the University of Miami, they leave with an incredible education that will prepare them for a successful future. I am an entrepreneur so I always look at how I can influence change. If I can offer one piece of advice for our graduates it would be to embrace change, look beyond the obvious and go for what you believe in.  That will give life meaning and no matter where you go and what you do, you will have taken your own path to get there.