APF honors Gantz for her generous gift to support research

Foundation dedicates a bench in her honor and in memory of her husband.

By Rebecca A. Clay

'In honor of June Gantz, EdD, and in memory of her husband, Alexander Gralnick, MD.' So reads a plaque set in one of the benches in the courtyard of APA headquarters.

Unveiled on June 6, the plaque makes the bench the first to be dedicated in Psychology Plaza. The bench has thus become a concrete symbol of APA?s thanks for a $100,000 gift to the American Psychological Foundation (APF) from the foundation Gantz runs. The Gralnick Foundation supports mental health research and education for those who work with the seriously mentally ill.

'It is both a personal and professional pleasure for me to be able to acknowledge Dr. Gantz?s many and lasting contributions to our profession,' said APF President Joseph D. Matarazzo, PhD. 'She is a true philanthropist and advocate for psychology. We are honored to acknowledge her as one of our profession?s respected colleagues.'

Gantz?s gift will fund the Alexander Gralnick, MD, Research Grant, named after Gantz?s late husband, a psychiatrist widely recognized for his work with the seriously mentally ill. The grant is given to encourage psychological research on mental illness and the role families can play during treatment. APF will let the money build interest for at least a year before awarding the first grant.

This isn?t the first time APF has benefited from the Gralnick Foundation?s generosity. In 1991, Gralnick gave the foundation $75,000; at his death in 1993, the foundation received an additional $25,000. Those donations now fund an annual grant called the Alexander Gralnick, MD, Award, which is awarded to psychologists conducting research on the psychosocial aspects of schizophrenia.

'I?m proud to be able to lend support to APF and to be a member of APA, whose members? research has always been in the forefront of new and exciting investigations,' said Gantz, who serves as president of the Gralnick Foundation.

Although best known for her philanthropic endeavors, Gantz is also notable for her accomplishments in psychology, said Matarazzo. After her husband?s death, Gantz served as chief executive officer of the High Point Hospital in Rye Brook, N.Y. Founded by Gralnick, the hospital offered long-term care and psychosocial rehabilitation to young people with schizophrenia and others with serious mental illnesses. The hospital closed in 1995.

Now a psychologist and marriage counselor in private practice in Michigan, Gantz has also hosted a talk-radio program and taught medical students at the Bronx Psychiatric Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. She plans to return to New York City this fall.

Rebecca Clay is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.