Kalman H. Silvert

The 11 September 1973 military coup in Chile overthrowing the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende was deeply distressing to Silvert, much of whose academic work concerned Chile. In 1974, he participated in the Commission on U.S.-Latin American Relations, chaired by U.S. Ambassador Sol M. Linowitz. The report advocated the normalization of U.S. relations with Cuba.

He was part of the group of scholars who founded the Latin American Studies Association in 1966 to bring together scholars from many disciplines into one organization. He served as an adviser to the Ford Foundation, which aided the formation of LASA. He subsequently became LASA's first president. According to Richard McGee Morse, who participated in LASA’s founding, “If we wanted to set proper standards for Latin American studies, if we were concerned with the mix of intellectual curiosity and moral commitment, or of sciences and humanities (indeed, Science and Humanity), the founding president had to be Kal Silvert.”

Silvert was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania to Henry Jacob Silvert and Ida Levine Silvert. He attended University of Pennsylvania, studying political science and government. He earned his PhD in political science in 1948 from Penn. In 1942, he married Frieda Moskalik, and the couple had three sons.

Kalman H. Silvert, (born 10 March 1921, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, died 15 June 1976, New York, New York) was an author of works on democracy in Latin America, the first president of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), and professor of political science at Tulane University, NYU, and other universities. The Kalman Silvert Award is LASA's highest award.