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The Byron and Dorothy Gerson Centennial Innovation Fund 
Honors the Legacy of Two Community Champions

Dorothy “Dottie” (z”l) and Byron “Bud” (z”l) Gerson 
are remembered as two of Jewish Detroit’s greatest 
leaders and benefactors. Their passion and generosity 
for our community was matched only by their 
commitment to family, and to each other. Awarded the 
Jewish Federation’s 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award, 
Dottie and Bud supported a wide variety of organizations 
and agencies, including Federation, JVS, the Jewish 
Community Center, Hadassah, Congregation Shaarey 
Zedek and Temple Beth El and many others. They also 
were great champions of art and culture, supporting a 
wide range of institutions such as the Detroit Institute 
of Arts, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Jewish 
Ensemble Theatre. Married for 66 years, Bud died in 
2012 and Dottie in 2021. Today, their legacy lives on in 
both the causes and organizations they supported as 
well as in the many lives they touched with their 
generosity and compassion.

In honor of this extraordinary couple, the William 
Davidson Foundation has established the Byron and 
Dorothy Gerson Centennial Innovation Fund. This 
unique fund will provide ongoing resources to fuel new 
and innovative programs at the Jewish Federation and 
other community organizations. “The Gerson Innovation 
Fund will allow us to explore, develop and test new 
ideas to advance our community-building efforts,” says 
Steven Ingber, CEO of the Jewish Federation. “The 
entrepreneurial spirit of this Fund, together with its 
focus on strengthening our Jewish community, are a 
wonderful tribute to the life and impact of Dottie and 
Bud. In fact, I can think of no better way to honor the 
memory of these two individuals who dedicated so 
much of their lives to building a vibrant home for Jewish 
Detroiters.” 

