Mervyn F. Silverman

Joined the amfAR board in 1986. President of amfAR from May 1986 through April 1996, national spokesperson from January 1986 through December 1995, and secretary from 2011 to 2018. Chairman and director of amfAR’s annual National HIV/AIDS Update Conference from 1999 through 2005, chairman of amfAR’s program board in 2009, and chairman of amfAR’s program advisory council beginning in 2010. Dr. Silverman rotated off the board on February 7th, 2018, and was reelected on October 2nd, 2020.

Dr. Silverman was director of health for San Francisco from 1977 to 1985, where he was instrumental in the launch of a citywide program to combat the growing AIDS epidemic, a model that has since been replicated nationwide. Other leadership positions he has held include medical director of Planned Parenthood of Kansas, director of the Robert Wood Johnson AIDS Health Services Program, director of the Office of Consumer Affairs for the Food and Drug Administration, and director of the East Asia and Pacific Regional Medical Office of the Peace Corps.

Dr. Silverman has also held many academic and organizational appointments, including faculty positions at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine; Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine; and the University of Hawaii, School of Public Health. He has been a board member of more than 25 organizations and associations and has authored numerous chapters, articles, editorials, and reviews in a variety of publications.

His recent honors include his designation as a Public Health Hero by the University of California, Berkeley; a Heroes in Medicine award from the Association of Physicians in AIDS Care; an Honorary Doctor of Science from Washington and Lee University; and amfAR’s Award of Courage.

Dr. Silverman received his B.S. from Washington and Lee University, his M.D. from Tulane University School of Medicine, and his M.P.H. from Harvard University School of Public Health.

President, Mervyn F. Silverman Associates. He and his wife, Deborah, have three daughters and one granddaughter and live in Crockett, CA.