Dr. Silber was born in San Antonio in 1926 and he earned a degree from Trinity University there in 1947. In 1955, he got a doctorate in Philosophy from Yale and began teaching philosophy at the University of Texas in Austin. Five years later, he became the department's chairman.

Pictured: Silber with French President Francois Mitterrand and Professor Elie Wiesel who gave the invocation speech in 1989.