Local Doctor Establishes Teaching Grants

During an April 27 faculty awards program at Pacific Union College, the Herber Family Endowment announced $10,000 in grants to college faculty members.

Established by St. Helena physician Steve Herber, his sisters Sandra and Susan Herber, and his father Ray Herber, this endowment will annually provide faculty with professional development grants to facilitate teachers in their quest to achieve and sustain innovative, quality instruction.

Steve Herber, medical director of the St. Helena Institute for Plastic Surgery and a 1982 graduate of Pacific Union College, explains that he and his sisters, who also attended PUC, wanted to establish a special endowment to express their appreciation for the commitment and dedication of the faculty.  “It’s our way of saying thank you,” he said.

Grants funded by the Herber Family Endowment were presented to seven PUC faculty members. The grants finance such development opportunities as religion professor Ross Winkle presenting a research paper at the Society of Biblical Literature in Edinburgh, Scotland, and visual arts instructor Cheryl Daley attending the ceramics workshop at Anderson Ranch in Colorado this summer.

Herber’s commitment to service and the support of worthy causes has been demonstrated not only by this endowment, but also by his volunteer medical work in Hong Kong, Guatemala, Romania and Nepal. Herber received an international leadership award from the American Medical Association for his volunteer work on behalf of indigent children around the world.