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ANN ARBOR,
MI - Todd Joseph Ouida was a sensitive, generous and caring
man. He built his life on hope and confidence during and after graduating
from the University of Michigan
with a degree in psychology. But long before his days at U-M and
as a foreign currency option trader for Cantor Fitzgerald in New
York, Ouida's life was much different.
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Todd
Ouida holds his goddaughter, Ashley Jordan Morik
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As a child,
Ouida suffered from severe anxieties. From the fourth through the
sixth grade, these anxieties mounted, preventing him from attending
school regularly. However, with regular treatment and increasing
maturity, Ouida eventually overcame his childhood anxieties.
Now, after
the tragic loss of 25-year-old Ouida in the World Trade Center attacks
on Sept. 11, 2001, his parents, Herbert and Andrea, have made a
$250,000 endowment gift to the U-M
Depression Center to honor the memory of their son by helping
to further research and treatment, as well as raise awareness, for
childhood anxiety disorders.
With the Ouida
family's gift, the center will establish the Todd Ouida Clinical
Scholars Award and annual Lecture in Childhood Anxiety and Depression.
"The Todd
Ouida Clinical Scholars Award will support new research on the genetic,
biological and psychosocial factors contributing to childhood anxiety
disorders, and the development of more effective treatments for
these disorders," says Gregory L. Hanna, M.D., associate professor
in the U-M Medical School, and director of the Division
of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
"The Ouida
Award will be crucial to the continuation of ongoing research and
to launching the careers of young investigators. And, the annual
lecture will allow us to focus national attention on these important
problems and to provide information to clinicians and researchers
about the latest advances in the field," notes Hanna.
The gift donated
by Ouida's parents is truly reflective of his generous sensitivity
to others - a quality that his parents say Ouida developed as he
grew older and overcame his anxieties. Ouida was always willing
to share his experiences with those he felt would benefit and learn
from hearing about them, as he expressed in his application to U-M:
"Many
people have life-changing experiences every day, and they don't
even know it," he wrote. "My life-changing experience
lasted two and a half years, and I remember it vividly. Am I lucky?
Maybe. I suffered for two and a half years, but in those
two and a half years I learned more than most people learn in a
lifetime. I realized that the time a person wants to give up is
the time when it is imperative for that person to fight the hardest.
I learned that with family a person can overcome anything. And I
discovered that no matter how big the person is on the outside (for
I am only 5'5" tall) that the size of the heart is always going
to be more important."
The gift was
donated through the Todd Ouida
Children's Foundation Fund.
The Foundation Fund, which was established by the Ouida family as
a meaningful legacy for their son, supports psychological services
for children of families in need. It is administered by the Community
Foundation of New Jersey, a non-profit organization that enables
long-term charitable giving for New Jersey residents.
"The Ouida's
have accomplished amazing results through their Foundation
Fund - putting forth tremendous efforts in fundraising activities,
followed by granting a wide spectrum of children oriented charitable
organizations throughout New Jersey, not to mention the generous
donation to the University that had a lot of meaning to Todd, as
well as his family - this is the spirit of the American family at
one of its most brilliant moments," said James Kellogg, President
of the Community
Foundation of New Jersey.
To learn more
about Todd Ouida's life and the fundraising efforts established
by his family and friends to honor his memory, visit www.mybuddytodd.org.
Written by Krista Hopson
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