The Reporter: February 1997, Vol.8, No.1
Columbia's Profiles in Giving
Stephen and Constance Lieber

Dr. Herbert Pardes and Constance Lieber

Since 1980, Stephen and Constance Lieber have focused their support on mental illness and schizophrenia research at Columbia. In the United States alone, 3 million people suffer from schizophrenia and 18 million people suffer from a depressive disorder. With that in mind, the Liebers have become involved in a number of efforts, one of them the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD).

NARSAD, which was founded in part by the Liebers, originated in the early 1980s as family members and friends of the mentally ill responded to newly emerging neuroscience research and its potential for better treatment. Mrs. Lieber is president of NARSAD, which is second only to the NIMH in supporting scientific research into the causes, cures and treatments, and prevention of severe mental illness, primarily schizophrenia and depression. NARSAD has funded many investigators at Columbia who focus specifically on treatments and explanations for schizophrenia and mental illness.

Mrs. Lieber also is president of the Essel Foundation, director of the Mental Health Association of Westchester, and a member of the Columbia Presbyterian Health Sciences Advisory Council. Mr. Lieber is a senior partner in Lieber & Co. and is involved in other business interests. In 1991, the Liebers made a five-year commitment to provide funds for Columbia's M.D./Ph.D. program through the Constance and Stephen Lieber Fellowship. Also in 1991, they made a gift to the Frontier Fund for Psychiatric Research used to support the efforts of young, innovative researchers working in the areas of mental illness. In 1992, the Liebers--through the Essel Foundation--donated funds for the Seventh Annual Schizophrenia Conference held at Columbia. Most recently, in 1995, they made a pledge to Columbia's 21st Century Fund and renewed support for the M.D./Ph.D. program and the Department of Psychiatry. Through the Essel Foundation, the Liebers have made numerous gifts to P&S for special psychiatry teaching, research, and continuing education.