Tulane luminaries honored with Torch of Liberty Award

Arthur Nead anead@tulane.edu
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From left, Caroline Good, an adjunct assistant professor of Spanish, Gayle Benson, Dr. Gerald Berenson and Joan Berenson celebrate at a dinner honoring the Anti-Defamation League

From left, Caroline Good, Gayle Benson, Dr. Gerald Berenson and Joan Berenson celebrate at a dinner honoring the Anti-Defamation League"s A. I. Botnick Torch of Liberty Award winners. Good, an adjunct assistant professor of Spanish, received the Barney Mintz Leadership Award. (Photo from the Anti-Defamation League)


The Anti-Defamation League awarded Tulane University cardiologist and alumnus Dr. Gerald Berenson and his wife, alumna Joan Berenson, the A. I. Botnick Torch of Liberty Award. Along with the Berensons, Board of Tulane member Gayle Benson and her husband, Tom Benson, owners of the New Orleans Saints football team and the Pelicans basketball team, received the Torch of Liberty Award at a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency of New Orleans.

The Torch of Liberty Award honors the Berensons" and the Bensons" longtime philanthropic commitment to the community.

“Award recipients are people who care not just for themselves today, but for the children and grandchildren of tomorrow, who care enough to translate caring into action, who strive to build a future in which every citizen will share the fruits of democracy,” according to the League"s announcement.

Gerald Berenson received his undergraduate degree from Tulane in 1943 and his medical degree in 1945. Joan Berenson graduated from Newcomb College in 1953. They are well known for their contributions to public health and their constant commitment to the Jewish community. Gerald Berenson, a member of the Tulane University faculty, founded the Bogalusa Heart Study in 1972 and has served as its lead investigator since that time.

In addition to their numerous philanthropic and community involvements, Tom and Gayle Benson, longtime supporters of Tulane, were honored when the university named the playing field of Yulman Stadium the Benson Field.

“The Bensons and the Berensons are an inspiration for us all,” said Nancy Timm, Anti-Defamation League south-central regional board chair. “They have been important to our community for decades and have been key players in defining the future of our city.”

Caroline Good, an adjunct assistant professor of Spanish at Tulane and an ADL board member, and Irving Warshauer, an alumnus of the Tulane Law School (1976) who chairs the ADL"s Civil Rights Committee, received the Barney Mintz Leadership Award at the dinner on Dec. 4.