ard winner, Dr. Conrad Giles,
when he has time on his hands.

PHIL JACOBS EDITOR

p

roblem is, when
we read about
Federation volun-
teers, the reading
can get downright
tedious.
Former presi-
dent of the Jewish Fed-
eration of Metropolitan
Detroit, president of the
Michigan Jewish Confer-
ence, a co-chair of the
Michigan Miracle Mission, a
United Jewish Appeal vice
chairman, chairman of
UJA's Midwest Region, vice
president of the Council of
Jewish Federations, chair-
man of the Task Force on
Services to the Non-
Institutionalized Elderly,
Jewish Family Service,
American ORT Federation,
Detroit Men's ORT and
many other organizations
are listed here.
What most don't see,
though, is that these volun-
teer lines on a resume have
taken hundreds of hours,
months and years of a life-
time. In the organized
Jewish world, it's the
unpaid job which often
takes more energy than
one's full-time profession.
Dr. Conrad L. Giles has,
for about 30 years, made
Jewish causes his life. He
would take offense that
someone would see his mis-
sion as tedious. If anything,
he'd want to do even more.
In Detroit, he is known as
a leader who works with the
influential, but who hears
the voices and concerns of
everyone. Dr. Giles is

always around. There are
those who will tell you that
he often gets "stuck" with
the difficult tasks because
he's certain to get them
done.
So it shouldn't be a sur-
prise that when Federation
looked to award its highest
symbol of achievement, it
looked in its figurative mir-
ror and saw Conrad Giles.
On Tuesday, Sept. 28, he
will receive the Fred M.
Butzel Memorial Award for
Distinguished Community
Service. It is a mirror
because Dr. Giles can see
bits and pieces of his
achievements in so many
different areas of this com-
munity and the national
Jewish community as well.
"The amazing thing is
that in no way could I have
pictured myself doing these
things 30 years ago," said
Dr. Giles. "Thirty years ago
I defined myself in two
dimensions: One was a par-
ent and a husband, the sec-
ond was that of a profes-
sional, a physician. My only
goal was to excel in both. I
really didn't have real
depth as a person; there
was instead a struggle to
define myself."
Dr. Giles came to Detroit
from his native New York to
practice ophthalmology and
to teach at Wayne State's
and the University of
Michigan's medical schools.
After being in Detroit for a
handful of years with little
or no Federation contact, he
was asked to become part of

a young adult leadership
group.
Some of the names of par-
ticipants in that 1967 group
included David Hermelin,
David Page and Joel
Tauber, three of Detroit's
most admired community
and national leaders.
Dr. Giles, who lives in
Bloomfield Hills with his
wife, Dr. Lynda Giles, a
clinical psychologist, has
never been bashful when it
comes to voicing his opin-

ions on the direction
Federation and the Jewish
community must take. Two
years ago, he chaired the
Giles Commission on
Education, which became a
blueprint for the restructur-
ing of Detroit's Jewish edu-
cational system.
"The work that he does is
philosophically in tune with
his work as a physician, the
compassion and care of oth-
ers," said Dr. Lynda Giles.

COMMUNITY TIME page 16