From left to right: Philip Kaufmann, outgoing president of the Charles Deering Legacy Advisor Leadership Council; Richard W. Burke, 2017 winner of the 2017 Charles Deering Legacy Advisor Leadership Award; Phylis Ferrara, president of Summa Health Foundation and chief development officer, Summa Health; and Cliff Deveny, M.D., interim president and chief executive officer, Summa Health.
Richard Burke Earns Charles Deering Legacy Advisor Leadership Award
Richard W. Burke, a partner at Brennan, Manna & Diamond in Akron, has earned the 2017 Charles Deering Legacy Advisor Leadership Award for outstanding service in facilitating charitable giving to Summa Health.
The award was presented December 1 at the annual meeting of the Charles Deering Legacy Advisor Leadership Council. The Council includes several of the region’s leading legal, financial and wealth planning professionals.
The Charles Deering Legacy Advisor Leadership Award recognizes a council member for his or her professional advocacy on behalf of Summa Health. Burke has assisted donors with more than $8 million in gifts to Summa Health, including gifts from individual donors as well as the Lehner Family Foundation, where he serves as trustee.
Burke is considered one of the nation’s leading lawyers in the area of trusts and estates. He earned his law degree from the University of Akron School of Law and is a board member at Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens. He has served on the boards of Summa Health Foundation, the American Red Cross of Summit and Portage counties, Northern Ohio Golf Charities, Family Services of Summit County and others.
“We wanted to honor an individual who serves as an ambassador of Summa Health, demonstrates stellar volunteer leadership as a financial advisor and is actively involved in stewarding charitable giving to Summa Health,” said Phylis Ferrara, president of Summa Health Foundation and chief development officer of Summa Health.
Previous winners of the Legacy Advisor Leadership Award include Bob Bonchack (2016), Philip Kaufmann (2015) and Leigh Gerstenberger (2014).
Charles Deering was an Akron-area industrialist and philanthropist. Upon his death in 1927, his estate commitment led to the development of what is now Summa Health System – St. Thomas Campus.