Rosalie "Ricky" Silberman (née Gaull; March 31, 1937 – February 18, 2007[1]) was an American conservative activist who, with Barbara Olson and others, co-founded the Independent Women's Forum.
[citation needed] Silberman raised three children while the family lived in Hawaii during the 1960s, but she also worked as a teacher in suburban Washington before getting involved in politics and public affairs.
President Richard Nixon appointed her to the Presidential Commission for the Education of Disadvantaged Children, and she worked as a press secretary for U.S. Sen. Robert Packwood (R-Oregon).
[citation needed] Her support of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas led to the formation of the Independent Women's Forum (IWF), which had its origins in 1991–92, when Mrs. Silberman, along with Barbara Olson and Anita K. Blair, among others, started an informal network of women who supported the Thomas nomination despite allegations of sexual harassment by Anita Hill, a former colleague at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In 2002, Donald Rumsfeld appointed her to the Defense Department Advisory Commission on the Status of Women (DACOWITS), where she served as Boardmember, and, later, Chairperson Emeritus until her death five years later.