$2.5 Million Gift Goes to UC Psychiatry Department

CINCINNATI—The University of Cincinnati (UC) Academic Health Center has received a $2.5 million gift from the Dr. Stanley and Mickey Kaplan Foundation to support the department of psychiatry.

A $2 million portion of the gift will establish the Dr. Stanley and Mickey Kaplan Endowed Chair in Psychiatry.

The Kaplan Chair will be awarded to the chairman of the department of psychiatry.

“This gift will continue Dr. Kaplan’s great legacy in our department,” said Stephen Strakowski, MD, interim chair of the psychiatry department. “His generosity exceeds our simple words of thanks, but is greatly appreciated as further indication of Dr. Kaplan’s strong commitment to our department and the field of mental health.”

“The field of psychiatry is ever-changing, and this gift will be instrumental in helping us nurture all that is best in our existing traditions and in future therapeutic developments,” said David Stern, MD, dean of the College of Medicine. “We are extremely proud that the chairman of our psychiatry department will now be known as the Dr. Stanley and Mickey Kaplan Chair.” 

Stanley Kaplan, MD, is an alumnus of the College of Medicine and completed his residency training at UC. He also received training in psychoanalysis from the Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis. In 1954 he was asked to join the faculty of UC’s department of psychiatry under the direction of Maurice Levine, MD.

Kaplan went on to become full professor and at one time was interim chairman of the psychiatry department. He has served on nearly every College of Medicine committee and is deeply committed to education.

In 1991 he established the national Stanley M. Kaplan Essay Contest to encourage improved writing and research skills among medical students.

During his career at UC, Kaplan was involved not only in service and teaching, but also in research. He is published widely for his work on a range of topics in psychiatry—particularly for studies in psychosomatic medicine.

Now an emeritus professor, Kaplan is on campus almost every day and continues to do some psychotherapy and teaching.

“I am proud to be part of what was and still is one of the finest departments of psychiatry in the country,” said Kaplan. “I was fortunate to serve on the faculty of one of the first psychiatry departments that encouraged interest not only in psychiatry, but also the arts and humanities,” he added.

A strong supporter of the arts, Kaplan—through the Dr. Stanley and Mickey Kaplan Foundation—in 2003 established the Kaplan Prize in honor of his late wife Mickey Jarson Kaplan. The prize is awarded annually to support the production of a new play at the Playhouse in the Park in Mt. Adams. The Kaplan Foundation also supported the naming of the new dance studio at the Cincinnati Ballet in honor of Mickey.