Pictured: Silverstein family and Dr. Anath Shalev (third from right)The UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center recently recognized Benny M. LaRussa, Jr., and David L. Silverstein as 2022 Volunteers in Philanthropy at the Association of Fundraising Professionals Alabama Chapter National Philanthropy Day on November 10, 2022.
The National Philanthropy Day Volunteer in Philanthropy (VIP) Award honors kind and generous individuals who have been instrumental in building and supporting the community in Birmingham, AL.
LaRussa and Silverstein have not only pledged their financial support to the UCDC, but they are central to its ability to continue to grow here at UAB. Their dedication to the center directly impacts the center as well as those with diabetes. The UCDC expresses its gratitude to LaRussa, Silverstein, and their families for their continued efforts in supporting the center.
Medical Properties Trust (MPT) received the Outstanding Corporate Citizen Award at AFP Alabama Chapter National Philanthropy Day. MPT has been invaluable to the growth and research capabilities of the center, most recently pledging a $5 million gift to the center.
About Benny M. LaRussa, Jr.
Benny M. LaRussa, Jr., graduated from Auburn University in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in finance and received his master’s in public and private management from Birmingham-Southern College in 1986. He is founder and chief executive officer of Sterling Capital Management, a multi-asset holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Sterling Capital Management owns and operates three platform companies: Fenwick Brands, a consumer-packaged goods private equity firm; American Pipe and Supply, a wholesale distributor of pipe, valves, and fittings; and StoneRiver Company, a real estate development and property management company.
He serves on the boards of Security Engineers Inc., Synovus Bank-Birmingham, Quarterbacking Children’s Health Foundation, and the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center. He is currently the Board Chair of the Joseph S. Bruno Charitable Foundation and Sterling Capital Management Company’s holdings: American Pipe and Supply Company, Fenwick Brands, and StoneRiver Company.
Benny is married to Lynn F LaRussa. They have two daughters, Megan L Chenoweth (Barnett) and Chelsey L Heslop (Kyle), and three grandchildren, Finn Heslop, James Chenoweth, and Poppy Heslop.
About David L. Silverstein
David L. Silverstein is the founder of The FiveStone Group, a newly established commercial real estate firm based in Birmingham, Alabama specializing in the development of mixed-use projects.
Prior to forming The FiveStone Group, David was an operating principal at Bayer Properties, LLC, where he directed development efforts and managed Bayer’s relationship with governmental entities nationwide, including public-private partnerships, securing TIF and PIF financing, new market historic tax credits, and tax share back agreements. David was instrumental in securing various entitlements and ordinance requirements or variances in such areas as zoning, landscaping, traffic and parking. He retains an ownership interest in the assets including The Summit in Birmingham, Alabama, a 1 million square foot regional shopping destination; The Summit at Fritz Farm, a $156 million mixed-use development in Lexington, Kentucky; and The Pizitz, a historic property in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. Before joining Bayer in 1994, he was a Partner in the law firm of Berkowitz, Lefkovits, Isom, and Kushner.
David takes an active role in the community and has served as president of the Alabama Chapters of the American Heart Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He is President of the Board of Directors for the Alabama Holocaust Education Center and a member of the Board of Directors for Ascension Alabama and Leadership Alabama. David is also a member of the Norton Board of Advisors for Birmingham Southern College; The University of Alabama Honors College Board of Visitors; the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center Advisory Board; the First Horizon Bank Birmingham Advisory Board; and co-chairs Leadership Alabama’s Birmingham Regional Council.
David is married to the former Susan Tilson and they have five children and eleven grandchildren. He attended Birmingham University School (B.U.S. now Altamont, 1974), Vanderbilt University (1978), and Cumberland School of Law (1981).
Medical Properties Trust (MPT) received the Outstanding Corporate Citizen Award at the 2022 AFP Alabama Chapter National Philanthropy Day. MPT has been invaluable to the growth and research capabilities of the center, most recently pledging a $5 million gift to the center in January 2021.
Medical Properties Trust (MPT) is a global leading provider of real estate capital to hospitals, and the second-largest non-governmental owner of hospital beds in the United States. It is unique among REITs due to our exclusive focus on investing in hospital real estate. Its hospitals and our tenant operators provided high quality care to millions of patients in the U.S. and abroad in 2020. Domestically, this included more than 490,000 admissions, two million ER visits and 300,000 surgeries.
MPT works to improve healthcare on a global scale and in the vibrant city that serves as the company’s home base—Birmingham, Alabama. MPT consistently supports nonprofit organizations in ways that: contribute to the health and well-being of its community—its people and the city itself; help research hospitals and medical organizations make discoveries that can impact the world. MPT notes, “We are committed to making a positive difference in the communities in which we operate, and we run, and encourage our tenant operators to run, all aspects of operations with environmental and social sustainability in mind.”