Dental School Dedication

The Dental School yesterday renamed its main building in honor of the late Sera Gelfand Deutschman '21, who bequeathed the school $3 million upon her death. After a luncheon of scrod and blusberry pit at the Harvard Club of Boston, President Bok called Deutschman a "great friend of the Dental School and a great admirer of its work."

Seventy-five guests, including friends, associates, and members of the Dental School faculty, recalled Deutschman's longtime involvement with the school, to which she had donated money for 15 years.

In his opening remarks, Bok spoke of the "multiplied significance" of such private grants in a time of reduced federal research funds. "We've come to recognize in recent years the gaps, weaknesses, and drawbacks of a critical kind for those institutions that rely entirely on the federal government," he said.

Bok was present earlier in the afternoon when the crimson curtains were pulled aside to unveil the commemorative lobby display and a new inscription over the main entrance of the Dental School.

Workers had to reposition the familiar gilded crest over the door in order to accommodate the new inscription. Dr. Paul Goldhaber, dean of Harvard Dental School, said yesterday.

The building is named after Deutschman's parents, Samuel and Ida Gelfand.

Goldhaber's 35-minute keynote address gave an anecdotal account of Deutschman's life.

The Gelfands' achievements were particularly "miraculous," said Holdhaber, in light of the severe oppression of Jews in turn of the-century Russia Goldhaber read from Ida Gelfand's memoirs, which describe the hardships the Gelfands, both Jewish, had endured on the way to receiving their dental licenses.

The Deutschman donation will become part of the School's endowment, and will go towards funding dental research.

Also on hand for the ceremonies were family members. Deutschman's nephew Davis B. Bobrow, and first cousins Bernice Siegel and Nennon Gelfand.