By Judy Carmack Bross
Buck and Elizabeth Betten, recipients of the Shining Star Award at The Ryan Licht Sang Bipolar Foundation Luncheon
“I believe that true character is revealed when the worst happens, when you’re faced with adversity and total heartbreak. Do you fold? Or do you find a way to build something meaningful from it? Joyce and Dusty Sang chose the latter. And in doing so, they’ve helped change how people understand Bipolar Disorder and how we can support the people we love. That’s why I feel so passionately about this organization. It brings together both the human elements and the science. Every year at this luncheon, we walk away a little bit smarter, a little more aware. Ryan was the first person I encountered with Bipolar Disorder, but he was not the last. The Foundation has helped so many, including me, be a better friend, a better family member, and a better advocate.”—Buck Betten at the recent Ryan Licht Sang Bipolar Foundation Medical Briefing Luncheon.
The Ryan Licht Sang Bipolar Foundation Co-Founder and Director Dusty Sang, speaking at the recent Bipolar Medical Briefing Luncheon
When their son Ryan died 20 years ago from Bipolar Disorder, Joyce and Dusty Sang knew that they had to honor Ryan by building something meaningful. “So that other children don’t have to be Ryan and other parents don’t have to be us”, they have said.
The recent 20th anniversary of the Foundation was both bittersweet because of Ryan’s death but celebratory due to the Foundation’s advancements, including research aimed at finding an empirical test for Bipolar Disorder to provide early detection. “Today a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder for children and adolescents can take up to 10 years. With an empirical test, early diagnosis and early intervention will be possible. That is why the Foundation is on its ‘Quest For The Test,’” Dusty Sang said. “The second area is awareness and understanding. The Foundation is dedicated to helping erase the terrible stigma associated with Bipolar Disorder. While we can’t bring Ryan back, we hope millions will see a brighter day in his memory through the work of the Foundation.”
Always considered as one of the most dazzling events in town, Joyce Sang chose the original black and white Foundation colors with dome-shaped pink rose arrangements. She also designed the black and white pins, including butterflies, which have been trademarked and worn proudly across the world.
Co-Chairs Melissa Haley and Florence Ann Romano
Amy Morro and Jamie Pasquale PsyD were Honorary Chairs of the Bipolar Medical Briefing Luncheon named “Making a Difference,” with Melissa Haley and Florence Ann Romano as Chairs. Dusty Sang moderated the panel which featured John Walkup MD, Chair, Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health and Margaret C. Osterman Board Designated Professor in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Lurie Children’s Hospital and Janet Wozniak MD, Director of Child and Adolescent Outpatient Service and Director, Pediatric Bipolar Disorder Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Speakers Dr. John Walkup and Dr. Janet Wozniak
The presentation of the Shining Star Award, the Foundation’s highest honor, to Elizabeth and Buck Betten for their enduring commitment to the Foundation and its work, was highlighted with memories of Ryan from school days in Palm Beach. Buck was a friend of the Foundation’s namesake Ryan since they were six years old. In his speech, Buck remembered Ryan fondly, recalling his “rare gift of connection.” “He made you feel like you were the most important person in the world, and you just wanted to be around him,” Betten said.
Buck went on to praise the work of the Foundation, as well as the pioneering efforts of its founders. “After Ryan was gone, I began to ask, ‘What did I miss? And how could I have supported him better?’ And that’s what makes this Foundation so extraordinary. Joyce and Dusty started the Foundation to find a test to change outcomes. But along the way they gave people like me something else: a way to better understand the Bipolar brain. Not as something that’s broken. Not as something better or worse. Just different. And sometimes beautifully and profoundly different.”
Karen Toomey, Julia McGrath, Mary Ellen McGrath and Rosemary Gullikson
Amy Morro, Will Morro and Lizzie Nolan
Leigh-Anne Kazma, Artist-in-Residence Kelly Mathews, and Millie Ryba
Dusty Sang announced that Foundation Artist-in-Resident Kelly Matthews was honored with a two-year extension of her residency. The Foundation’s INSIGHTS Juried Art competition and exhibitions for artists with Bipolar Disorder will be held at the Zolla/Lieberman Gallery in Chicago in October 2025 and at the Surovek Gallery in Palm Beach in January 2026.
Zolla/Lieberman Gallery of William Lieberman and artist Susan Aurinko
Robin Perlen, Sandy Gubin-Luskin, Melissa Haley
Frances Fisher, named a Life Trustee of the Foundation
At a dinner the night before, the Foundation honored Dr. Walkup and Dr. Wozniak, and also named Frances Fisher a Life Trustee. Fisher went from the Luncheon the next day to the unveiling of the Barbara Bush stamp in the Rose Garden of the White House, an event she helped organize. A leader in many Palm Beach organizations including The Ryan Licht Sang Bipolar Foundation, Frances Fisher gained professional experience at the national level in both the public and non-profit sectors in Washington, D.C. She served in the West Wing of the White House as Special Assistant to the Counsel for George H.W. Bush and member of the Advance Team for First Lady Barbara Bush. Following public service, Fisher co-founded the National Environmental Policy Institute where she served nine years as Executive Director.
Nicole Kneedy and Alex Singer
Julie and Lawrence Hurt
In accepting her award, Frances Fisher commented:
“Before Joyce and Dusty started the Foundation, people never said Bipolar out loud, and now you can say it with a loud voice. Thanks to the Sangs, we are watching the stigma erode and finding long-term answers. They are, first of all, courageous parents who despite the tragedy of their son’s death didn’t waste time in taking their work nationally, helping thousands if not millions of lives and intent on solving the mysteries of the brain. They have provided a strikingly innovative perspective on something that in no longer in a silo. They are now speaking to a new generation of college students as well.”
Meredith Sullivan and Jennifer Arra
Patricia Boyle and Tonia Bentley Dean
For more information about The Ryan Licht Sang Bipolar Foundation, visit: questforthetest.org
