Harold W. (DEN ’44) and Ilse F. Posner
Like many men of his generation, military service was much on the mind of Harold Posner in the summer of 1941. The world was in the throes of war and Posner believed the best way he could serve his country was by pursuing his dream of becoming a dentist before joining the war effort. He was inspired to pursue dentistry by his guardian and uncle, Franklin B. Jaffe, DDS, who Posner describes as, “a great, great man. He raised me, treated me like one of his sons, and took very good care of me.”
Motivated by his uncle, Posner sent out a handful of dental school applications and accepted the invitation to enroll in the University of Pittsburgh that fall.
Posner, a Jewish man from Queens, found the University of Pittsburgh to be welcoming and relatively unaffected by the racism that was gripping other parts of the country during the 1940s. “When I first came to Pitt, Nazis were marching in New York and Chicago, and it was difficult for Jewish boys to get accepted to professional programs,” he recalls. But Posner thrived in the Pitt community, and even joined the University of Pittsburgh chapter of Alpha Omega, serving as chapter president during his third year. He remembers his time at Pitt fondly. “The University was courageous during a very difficult time,” he notes. “It accepted me gave me the opportunity to learn a great profession.”
After graduating in 1944, Posner was able to serve his country as an Army dentist. Posner traveled throughout the European Theater until the end of World War II, and upon returning to the U.S. in December of 1945, Posner set up a small practice in New York. He quickly left to once again serve his country, this time at Andrews Air Force base during the Korean conflict.
Posner then settled into family life, marrying his wife Ilse within a year of being introduced by fellow Pitt graduate Dr. Ilse Jansen, ’42. Posner built a robust practice in Queens and worked there as a family dentist until his retirement in 1977.
After retiring, Posner and his wife relocated to Florida, where he had helped establish the Greenbriar Nursing Home nearly a decade earlier. “The nursing home turned out to be a great investment and we were able to sell it in 1982,” he recalls. “In all,” Posner says, “I’ve been fairly successful.”
His success has allowed him to give back to the University that provided his training so many years ago. Dr. Posner and his wife, Ilse F. Posner, have made a generous donation to the University of Pittsburgh in the form of a charitable remainder trust. Their gift will be used to create an endowed assistant professorship in the School of Dental Medicine. The professorship will stand as a tribute to Franklin B. Jaffe, DDS, the man who raised Posner and inspired his passion for dentistry.