“The William Davidson Foundation has donated $6.5 million in grants to two of Detroit’s most renowned cultural institutions in memory of the brother-in-law and sister of the foundation’s founder,” writes Maureen Feighan in Thursday’s (2/10 Detroit News. “Byron and Dorothy Gerson were longtime supporters of the Detroit Institute of Arts, which will receive $5 million, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, which will receive $1.5 million, the William Davidson Foundation announced Wednesday. Dorothy Gerson, who died in April last year, sat on the DIA’s board and the DSO’s development committee…. The grants are the latest boost to the DIA and DSO as both organizations work to build their endowments…. The DSO said the $1.5 million gift, to build up its endowment, will help attract and retain top musicians and guarantee education and youth programs in the future. ‘My father and my aunt grew up going to youth concerts at the DSO, which created memories that lasted for their lifetimes,’ said Ethan Davidson, grants committee chair and director of the William Davidson Foundation. ‘Our family and Foundation’s commitment to music in Detroit spans three generations of our family and we want to maintain that in my aunt’s memory.’ ”
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