The recipients were selected because of their ongoing commitment and efforts to secure funding for HIV/AIDS research and community programs.
Michael Steinberg, chairman and CEO of Macy's West, will receive the first annual UCSF ARI Visionary Leadership Award in recognition of his role as a creative retailer who saw the power of combining corporate industry with the forces of academic AIDS researchers and community organizations to fight the HIV epidemic.
Under Steinberg's guidance, the Macy's West annual "Passport" fashion show has evolved into a major fundraising event for HIV/AIDS programs and the UCSF/Macy' s Center for Creative Therapies was established as one of the first programs to partner business with academia in developing new clinical approaches to HIV/AIDS. Over recent years, Macy's West has fulfilled a pledge of $1 million to the UCSF ARI to support its programs in basic and clinical HIV research and prevention sciences.
Honorary achievement awards for continued efforts to secure HIV/AIDS funding at the local, state, and national levels will be presented to San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, State Assemblywoman Carole Migden, State Assemblyman Kevin Shelley, and San Francisco Supervisor Mark Leno.
"These six individuals are among the best of the best in their dedication to making a difference in our efforts to bring an end to the HIV epidemic," said Thomas J. Coates, PhD, executive director of the UCSF ARI.
"Mr. Steinberg and Macy's West present an example of the continuing commitment that we need to win the battle against HIV. Macy's generosity has made it possible for us to improve therapies and start down the path to a vaccine. We will win the fight against HIV with help from friends like Mr. Steinberg and Macy's West," Coates added.
In the award presentation, Steinberg was cited for his "unwavering commitment" to making a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS and his leadership in guiding Macy's West to take a stand on the disease "before it was popular to do so." In a proclamation issued by Mayor Brown, tomorrow, December 2, has been declared "Michael Steinberg and Macy's West Day" in San Francisco.
Steinberg has been involved in the retail industry with Federated Department Stores, the parent corporation of Macy's West, since 1965. Under his leadership, Macy's was one of the first retail companies in the country to make a commitment to fighting HIV /AIDS, and in 1988 the "Passport" show became a benefit for programs and organizations affiliated with the disease. This year the event raised more than $2 million. The funds support organizations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other communities outside California with Macy's retail services.
In addition to its own efforts, Macy's has encouraged its vendors, including American Express, to support and join HIV/AIDS fundraising programs. Five years ago, Steinberg expanded the Macy's West commitment to include HIV research by joining forces with UCSF to form the UCSF/Macy's Center for Creative Therapies, a program that operates in collaboration with the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology located at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center.
The Center focuses on testing new AIDS therapies in a rapid and scientifically sound way and to assess their potential value in patients. From the initial Macy's West funding, the Center now also receives grant support from the University of California and the National Institutes of Health.
The UCSF AIDS Research Institute is a campuswide enterprise without walls that encompasses all UCSF AIDS programs under a single umbrella and includes close to1,000 investigators. The UCSF ARI is dedicated to cutting edge advances in HIV clinical care, prevention and health services, policy, immune reconstitution, and vaccine development.