Greenberg Glusker Partner Honored at Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Gala

Real Estate Group Chair Dennis B. Ellman and Wife Bonnie Ellman Recognized for Contribution to Cure and Community

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) recently announced that it will bestow its highest honor, the 2009 Caregiver Award, to Greenberg Glusker Partner Dennis B. Ellman and his wife, Bonnie. Ellman is Chair of the Firm’s Real Estate Group and a long time member of the Firm’s Management Committee. The Ellmans will receive the award at the JDRF’s annual gala on May 7, 2009 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. JDRF will also commend the contributions of champion boxer Sugar Ray Leonard and pediatric endocrinologist Francine R. Kaufman, M.D. Actors Eddie Murphy and Rhea Perlman are among the award presenters and musician Kenny Loggins will perform at the event.

“We congratulate Dennis and Bonnie on this well-deserved and significant acknowledgment of their ongoing efforts.”

“The leadership and passion that Dennis brings to the fight against juvenile diabetes research is a wonderful example of the Firm’s long standing and continuing commitments to philanthropy and community service,” said Greenberg Glusker’s Managing Partner Norman H. Levine. “We congratulate Dennis and Bonnie on this well-deserved and significant acknowledgment of their ongoing efforts.”

The Caregiver Award recognizes those individuals who have cared for a loved one having diabetes or another disease under the autoimmunity research umbrella.

Dennis Ellman served two terms as president of the Chapter’s board of directors and as a board member for seven years. He currently chairs the Chapter’s major gifts committee, and he sits on the advisory board. Bonnie Ellman helped found and remains a leader of the L.A. Chapter’s Outreach Program, an online support system and network for newly diagnosed families. The Ellmans’ 13 year-old daughter, Jordan, who has Type 1 diabetes, will present the award to her parents.

“The accomplishments of Dennis and Bonnie are a ‘caregiver triple-header’ that resonates at every level,” said Robert Reid, Executive Director of JDRF’s Los Angeles Chapter. “Under Dennis’ leadership, we have strengthened our organization, our fundraising and our ability to meet the challenges of finding a cure. Bonnie’s creation of a family support network, which today reaches 450 families, exemplifies community care at its finest. And their love for their daughter embodies care at its most personal and meaningful.”

Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with Type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.3 billion to diabetes research grants, including more than $156 million in 2008. In that year alone, the Foundation funded more than 1,000 centers, grants and fellowships in 22 countries. The LA Chapter contributes more than $4 million annually to diabetes research.

“My wife and I are honored by this recognition, but even more importantly, we remain hopeful and confident, on behalf of the millions of people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, that JDRF will help find the cure and bring it to people in need,” said Ellman.

Ellman graduated from New York University School of Law in 1976, practiced in New York, and then joined Greenberg Glusker in 1981.

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