A release from Rutgers:
Two families, longtime friends who between them have three sons on the autism spectrum, have made a $1.5 million gift to Rutgers University to endow a faculty position in adult autism, a field in which there is a critical shortage of trained professionals and support services.
The Karmazin and Lillard Chair in Adult Autism is being established by Dina Karmazin Elkins, daughter of Mel Karmazin, philanthropist and the former CEO of Sirius XM Radio; Michael Lillard, Chief Investment Officer of Prudential Fixed Income, and his wife, Amy.
The endowed professorship is unique in that it is specific to adults with autism and will address much needed intervention and research for adults with autism spectrum disorders from both academic and training perspectives. It will be based at Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, (GSAPP), which for decades has been providing leading-edge services to children and adults with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities.
“The Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology has a strong desire to work on finding innovative ways to help adults with autism, a goal that is close to our hearts,” said Amy and Mike Lillard, whose two teenage sons are on the autism spectrum. “The school’s history of providing services to those with disabilities and educating students to continue that work makes Rutgers an ideal place for a chair in adult autism.”
