Sitemans honored with Harris award for strong community leadership

In recognition of their extraordinary service to the St. Louis region, Ruth and Alvin Siteman received the seventh annual Jane and Whitney Harris St. Louis Community Service Award. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton presented the Sitemans with the award at a recent event at Harbison House.

The Harris award was established in 1999 by a gift from Whitney R. Harris and his late wife, Jane, who wished to reward couples who care deeply about improving the quality of life in the region.

(From left) Ruth Siteman displays the Harris award as Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton, Ann Liberman, chair of the Harris award selection committee, and Alvin Siteman look on, during a recent ceremony at Harbison House. The Sitemans received the annual community-service award for their extraordinary service to the St. Louis region.
(From left) Ruth Siteman displays the Harris award as Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton, Ann Liberman, chair of the Harris award selection committee, and Alvin Siteman look on, during a recent ceremony at Harbison House. The Sitemans received the annual community-service award for their extraordinary service to the St. Louis region.

“Today we honor two persons who have made a permanent positive change to our community,” Wrighton said at the event. “Our community is better today because of the significant contributions of the Sitemans.”

The University administers the Harris award, which includes a $25,000 gift the couple directs to a charity of their choice. The Sitemans chose two local organizations to split the prize: The International Institute of St. Louis and the University City Children’s Center.

The Sitemans are community leaders and philanthropists who have made contributions to the educational, cultural, civic and health advancements of St. Louis and beyond. They have left their mark on a number of institutions, most notably the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at the School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The center is an international leader in patient care, cancer research, prevention and education, and community outreach.

In addition, the Sitemans have established three professorships — in marketing, pediatrics and oncology. The professorship in marketing was named in honor of Alvin’s father, Philip.

Alvin Siteman, a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is president of the Siteman Organization, Site Oil Co. of Missouri and Flash Oil Corp. He chaired Mark Twain Bancshares Inc., the company he helped merge with Mercantile Bancorporation in 1997.

A leader of many organizations in St. Louis, he is a former chairman and a current member of the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation’s Board of Directors and of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis. He also served on the boards of Jewish Hospital and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Now an honorary trustee for the Saint Louis Art Museum, he also was a past president.

He is an emeritus trustee of the University and has received several major awards from the institution for his deep support and generosity, including the Dean’s Medal for exceptional service to the Olin School of Business, and the Robert S. Brookings Award for advancing the alliance between the University and the community.

Furthermore, he received an honorary doctor of humanities degree in 2000 and the Second Century Award in 2002.

Ruth Siteman, a 1975 alumna of University College in Arts & Sciences, also is active in the community, serving as a board member for several key charitable organizations in St. Louis, including the Advisory Committee of Planned Parenthood of St. Louis, The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, Reproductive Health Services, ACLU-Eastern Missouri, Beyond Housing and the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute.

She is a founding member of the Arts & Sciences National Council.

The International Institute of St. Louis provides adjustment services and cross-cultural programming for immigrants and their families. The Sitemans’ gift will provide support for the institute’s after-school tutoring services for refugee teens, which include academic help and career counseling.

The University City Children’s Center provides care and education for children, from 6 weeks to 6 years old, who come from a broad-based socio-economic and ethnic population. The center’s philosophy emphasizes the critical role of literacy for future academic success.

The first Harris award was presented in 2000 to Lucy and the late Stanley Lopata, who supported Habitat for Humanity. Other recipients were the late Alice and the late Leigh Gerdine, for St. Louis Black Repertory Company; Ann and Lee Liberman, for Forest Park Forever; the late Elizabeth and William H. Danforth, for The Women’s Society of Washington University; Marilyn and Sam Fox, for The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts; and Mary Ann and Des Lee, for The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Springboard to Learning.

For nomination information for the 2007 award, e-mail harrisprize@wustl.edu or call 935-6298.