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.
[4] Silvert’s academic work on Latin America revolved around issues of democracy, repression, and education and focused on particular Latin American countries including Chile, Guatemala, and Venezuela.
He was a professor of political science at New York University and the director of its Ibero-American Center.
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.”[8] 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.
[9] According to one friend and colleague, Silvert had a “keen sense of loyalty... low tolerance for foolishness and large capacity for moral indignation … [and an] insistence on speaking from the mind and not the gut.”[10]