Founder of Rockland Family Shelter; Psychotherapist; Arts Advocate
UW Majors: Journalism; Philosophy
In October 2011, UW–Madison’s newly expanded Chazen Museum of Art reopened its doors, adding striking new architecture to campus and elevating the university’s status as a leader in visual arts and education. At the heart of that transformation was Simona Chivian Chazen x’49, a psychotherapist and social worker by training, a philanthropist by calling, and a passionate advocate for the arts. Through decades of meaningful support, Chazen and her late husband, Jerome “Jerry” Chazen ’48, have reshaped the university’s cultural and educational landscape.
Simona grew up in Newark, New Jersey, surrounded by family whose appreciation and talent for art and music shaped her own lifelong love of culture. At the UW, she studied journalism and philosophy and met her husband of 70 years. Their first date was at a jazz record hour; Jerry — a member of the Union Music Committee (predecessor of today’s Wisconsin Union Directorate) — emceed. Over time, Simona and Jerry’s shared passion for the arts blossomed into a lifelong commitment to collecting and supporting creative works and informed a collection that includes more than 500 pieces by over 200 artists.
In 2000, the Chazens made their first gift of art to the UW: Harvey Littleton’s Red Squared Descending Form (1982). Five years later, their foundation’s $20 million lead gift launched a dramatic expansion of the university’s art museum, meant to serve as the cornerstone of a cultural district for both campus and community. The 86,000-square-foot addition opened in 2011 and doubled the museum’s gallery space, added dedicated classroom space, and connected the museum to the heart of the UW campus. In recognition, the museum was renamed the Chazen Museum of Art. It stands as an anchor of the growing downtown arts corridor that today includes the Hamel Music Center.
The Chazens’ vision for the UW extended well beyond bricks and mortar (or, in the case of the museum, limestone, copper, and glass). Simona and Jerry imagined not just a renowned art institution, but a top-tier teaching museum. Today, the Chazen partners with nearly every school on campus, supporting faculty and inviting students from fields ranging from business to biology to study art up close. “Art broadens your worldview,” says Simona and Jerry’s daughter, Kathy Chazen ’74. “It feeds the soul and infuses our lives with richness and meaning.”
Over the next two decades, Simona served on the museum’s advisory council and helped guide its growth into a vibrant center of education, outreach, and artistic exchange, as well as championing increased access to the arts. In 2015, the Chazens made another transformational gift: $5 million to support the building, plus $3 million to endow two faculty positions — the Chazen Family Distinguished Chair in Art and the Simona and Jerome Chazen Distinguished Chair in Art History — as well as pledging a gift of art from their private collection, further strengthening the UW’s collection and its national reputation.
Perhaps best known within UW–Madison circles for her commitment to the museum and the university community, Simona has made an impact that extends far beyond campus. After college, she and Jerry married and raised a family that would eventually grow into an alumni legacy of three generations of Badgers and counting. As the family moved around the country, Simona’s early interest in writing gave way to a focus on family life. She began what she would later call her “second career” — social work — in the 1970s as a volunteer at a community counseling center in New York, where she helped address domestic abuse at a time when that term was taboo. Her work contributed to one of the country’s first intervention programs, later adopted statewide. After earning a master’s degree in clinical social work from Fordham, she became the center’s first associate executive director, and eventually opened a private psychotherapy practice focused on family conflict and trauma. Devoted to her work, she is still practicing today.
Beyond her work in social services, Simona has been a passionate advocate for education, the arts, and social justice — particularly in her longtime home of Rockland County, New York. Through board service, philanthropy, and hands-on involvement, she and Jerry have supported a wide variety of cultural institutions and community organizations, leaving a lasting impact both locally and nationally. Their scholarship fund has helped hundreds of Rockland County students attend college over several decades.
Today, Simona and Jerry’s legacy is thriving. Through expanded access, outreach, and programming, the Chazen has become not just a world-class museum, but a lively classroom and a welcoming public gathering place — the dynamic hub of the UW’s campus arts district. Reflecting on the museum in 2007, Simona said, “It’s very important that the art museum not only serves the university but also serves the entire Madison community.”
