Sid Gilman served as professor and chair of the University of Michigan Department of Neurology from 1977 to 2003 and was inaugurated as the first William J. Herdman Professor of Neurology in 1997. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of California at Los Angeles, graduating with the M.D. in 1957. After serving a year-long internship at the UCLA hospital, Gilman served as Research Associate at the National Institutes of Health for two years, then as Resident in Neurology at Harvard Medical School/Boston City Hospital Neurological Unit for three years. For the next two years, he was a research fellow, then a faculty member (first as an instructor, then as an associate) at Harvard Medical School/Boston City Hospital. In 1968, he left Harvard for Columbia University, where he joined as an Assistant Professor before becoming an Associate Professor, then Professor. He became the H. Houston Merit Professor of Neurology in 1976. The following year, he left Columbia for the University of Michigan.
Dr. Gilman received numerous awards and honors during his career. In addition to being a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha, he was the recipient of the Lucy G. Moses Prize in Basic Neurology, the UCLA Alumni Professional Achievement Award, and the UCLA Medical Alumni Professional Achievement Award. He belonged to several organizations, including the American Neurological Association and the Michigan Neurological Association, and served as President of both organizations. He is the author of over 300 journal articles and book chapters and wrote and edited six books. In addition, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Contemporary Neurology Series, MedLink Neurology, and Experimental Neurology . He was a member of the editorial board of six other neurological journals. His work concerns neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, and cerebellar degenerations, modern approaches to imaging the nervous system, and the neurophysiological and neuropharmacological aspects of cerebellar and basal ganglia function.
From the guide to the Sid Gilman papers, 1961-2003, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)
