Stevie Nicks has made a major gift to USC that completed a $3 million fundraising goal and established the Stevie Nicks and Joseph Sugerman, MD, Endowed Chair in Otolaryngology. The chair will be held by Michael M. Johns, MD, director of the USC Voice Center.
The gift gives a name and a future to a chair that was built to honor Joseph Sugerman, MD, a longtime collaborator of Nicks and a leading ear, nose and throat specialist in Beverly Hills. For nearly 50 years, Sugerman has provided patient-centered, personalized care and helped performers and non-performers preserve and restore their voices while also treating hearing loss and other ear, nose and throat conditions.
Nicks said she always knew she could count on Sugerman to help keep her voice healthy through late nights on the road, years of touring and hours in the recording studio. She said she was thrilled to acknowledge his talent, insights and many years of outstanding practice. Johns said the chair pays tribute to Sugerman’s extraordinary impact on patients, trainees and the field of otolaryngology.
The chair was not the product of one donor alone. It was supported by generous gifts from other donors as well, and the idea to raise $3 million began with Anita May Rosenstein and her husband, Arnold, as a way to recognize Sugerman’s accomplishments. That broad support matters because the chair is meant to advance vocal medicine, the same work that has linked Sugerman’s practice to USC for years.
Sugerman is an adjunct faculty member in the USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and a distinguished alumnus of its residency program. He said he was touched and humbled by the support of patients who came together to create the endowed chair, which he said will be dedicated to advancing vocal medicine and strengthening the USC Voice Center.
That center was established in 2017 and focuses on improving the quality of life for people with voice, swallowing and airway disorders. With satellite clinics throughout Los Angeles, it uses an interprofessional approach to promote health, prevent and cure disease, advance biomedical research and educate health care providers. Carolyn Meltzer said she is deeply grateful to the donors who recognize the importance of an endowed chair so the Voice Center’s work can flourish for years to come.
