T

he late Dorothy and Byron Gerson 
were devoted to Detroit’s Jewish 
community and to Israel, a commit-
ment shared by their family for several gen-
erations. They traveled often to Israel and 
contributed generously to improve Jewish 
life in Detroit and Israel.
Now their legacy is being honored 
through a series of grants from the William 
Davidson Foundation. Byron and Dorothy 
Gerson were the brother-in-law and sister 
of the late William Davidson, the founder 
of the Davidson Foundation and former 
chair, president and CEO of Guardian 

Industries. Mrs. Gerson died at age 99 in 
2021 and Byron Gerson died in 2013.
The Davidson Foundation has 
announced two grants in their honor — a 
$5 million gift to the American Friends of 
the Israel Museum Endowment and $3.5 
million for an Innovation Fund for the 
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. 
The grant to the Israel Museum, Israel’s 
largest cultural institution, continues more 
than a century of support for Israel from the 
Gerson and Davidson families. According 
to Ralph Gerson, Byron (Bud) and Dorothy 
(Dottie) Gerson’s son, his great-grandfa-

ther led the second Zionist Congress in 
Switzerland in 1920, and family members 
bought land in Jerusalem which they donat-
ed to Hadassah for its first hospital.
“They were a very Zionistic family. There 
is a long family legacy for Israel. They trav-
elled to Israel fairly often. They were art 
collectors, so they were interested in the 
Israel Museum,
” Gerson says. He is treasur-
er and a director of the William Davidson 
Foundation.
Byron and Dorothy Gerson hosted the 
museum director in Detroit to introduce 
the museum to Detroiters. His moth-
er Dorothy and Bill Davidson, who he 
describes as very close, shared this interest 
in Israel and its archaeology. “The Israel 
Museum was a passion of Dorothy’s,” 
says Karen Davidson, widow of William 
Davidson.
Ethan Davidson, William Davidson’s 
son, remembers that his uncle, Byron 
Gerson, kept up to date on the latest 
archaeological discoveries in Israel. “They 
all were involved individually and as a 
family,” he says. Davidson is grants com-
mittee chair and a director of the William 
Davidson Foundation.
The Davidson Foundation has previous-
ly supported exhibitions at the museum. 
In conjunction with this gift, the muse-
um’s Temporary Exhibitions Gallery in 
the Archaeology Wing will be named the 
Byron and Dorothy Gerson Gallery. 
Doreen Hermelin, a long-time friend of 
Dottie Gerson’s, describes her as “a very 
special lady. She loved Israel very much 
and the museum.” 
Her daughter, Marcie Orley, said, “Israel 
meant so much to her. This is an incredi-
bly meaningful way to honor their legacy.”
“Dottie and Bud Gerson had a long 
and loving history of connection with 
the Israel Museum. They also engaged a 
remarkably committed circle of friends in 
Detroit to share their enthusiasm for the 
museum, demonstrating importantly the 
power of the museum’s embrace across 
the Jewish cultural community in the 
U.S. Naming the entrance gallery to the 
museum’s Samuel and Saidye Bronfman 
Archeology Wing in their memory could 
not be a more appropriate way to recog-
nize the depth of their commitment to 
the Museum and its success,” says James 
S. Snyder, Director Emeritus of the Israel 
Museum and Executive Chair of the 
Jerusalem Foundation Inc.

Davidson Foundation Grants to benefit Israel 
Museum and Federation Innovation Fund. 

Dorothy and 
Byron Gerson 

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

18 | FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 

Honoring the Legacy of

OUR COMMUNITY

Dorothy and Byron Gerson

RON LIEBERMAN, LIBERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY