Chicago is unique among institutes in the involvement of lay persons in its governance. Indeed, the Institute came into being largely through the efforts and enthusiasm of Alfred K. Stern, a trustee of the Rosenwald Foundation. With foundation money and the help of a small but distinguished group that included Dr. Ludvig Hektoen, a highly regarded pathologist, Director of the McCormick Institute for Infectious Diseases, and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago; Dr. Franklin McLean, Professor of Medicine and Director of the University of Chicago Clinics; and Walter Fisher, public servant and leader of the Chicago bar, who drafted the Institute's charter and bylaws.
Fisher, present at the creation, believed that while Franz Alexander was the “founder of the medical and scientific activity of the Institute, the real founder was Alfred K. Stern.” It was he who shouldered the burden of getting the Institute under way. “Stern spent a substantial part of his time, for months, at the organizing task, initially getting not only money but quarters in a building, furniture, etc., and especially the board of directors, which he chose.” That board included Stern himself as President, Sidney Schwartz as Vice President, Walter Fisher as Secretary, Hektoen as Treasurer, Helen Swift Neilson, and Dr. William Fielding Ogburn. The budget for the first year, $62,000, was almost entirely met by gifts from Stern and his wife, and by Helen Swift Neilson.
For the entire sixty years of the Institute's existence, the lay Board has played an active role in nurturing its growth. Today the board has 32 members, only two of whom are analysts, who serve ex officio. Each year the board helps draw up the budget, carefully reviews it, and raises money through individual contributions and grants from foundations and other philanthropic organizations. The budget for the current year is approximately $1,200,000. The board also supervises the investment of funds, including an endowment in excess of two million dollars, and generally maintains fiscal controls.
Over the years, the board has provided general guidance to the director and staff, encouraging creation of a low-cost clinic, the Teacher Education Program, the Barr-Harris Prevention Center, which deals with early childhood loss, and programs that bring psychoanalytic insight and understanding to business executives. The board has been active in public relations, particularly through the Institute's outreach program.
Subcommittees of the board work with faculty and staff on joint committees established to further those activities. Over the life of the Institute, 155 people have served on the board. Coming from diverse backgrounds, they include business men and women, lawyers, educators, physicians, and other professionals, many of them civic leaders in the Chicago community.