The Joseph Gerson Collection

Joseph “Joe” R. Gerson (nee Joe Gershenoff) was born in Detroit, Michigan on June 14, 1927 to Russian Jewish Immigrants. At a young age he became an orphan when his mother passed away and Joseph spent his childhood in numerous foster homes. Joseph as he grew older eventually ended up in Brooklyn, New York where he stayed at an orphanage called the Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum.

At the age of seventeen, he enlisted in the Merchant Marine and became a cadet at SUNY Maritime College then known as the New York State Maritime Academy (NYSMA) at Fort Schuyler in the Bronx, New York. Shortly after graduating from NYSMA in 1947 at the age of twenty, Joseph changed his name from “Joe Gershenoff” to Joseph “Joe” R. Gerson.” Soon after his name change, Joseph went back to Detroit to go to college at Wayne State University of Detroit, where he obtained his Foreign Trade Degree. Upon getting his degree from Wayne State, Joseph moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana where he joined the Platka Export Company as an Account Executive and eventually worked his way up to Vice President of Sales.

In 1964 he founded Gerson International Corporation (GIC), an automotive export management company for which he directed overseas sales and where he was awarded the prestigious President's "E" Star Award for "Excellence in Export." Later on in life he founded the Valiant Foundation, which was established to fund philanthropic causes worldwide and help those in need regardless of religion, race, or background. Due to his exceptional service to many charitable, civic, military, political and religious organizations; most notably his support of the creation of the Maritime Industry Museum in 1986 at SUNY Maritime College; Joseph Gerson was awarded by the Alumni Association at Maritime College in 1991 the Alumni Achievement Award.

In 1999, he was conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters from SUNY Maritime College, where he was active in the Alumni Association, Maritime Industry Museum, and the academic training of cadets on SUNY Maritime’s T.S. Empire State ships. In November 2004, he was appointed as a Captain in the United States Maritime Service. A year after his appointment to Captain, Joseph “Joe” R. Gerson died in Fort Wayne, Indiana on August 2, 2005.