The Samuel Friedman Foundation was established in 1956 by Samuel Friedman, in Buffalo,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. A later branch of the foundation was set up in Los Angeles at UCLA. Friedman, who was born in Romania on January 1, 1919, was a survivor of concentration camps at both

Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

and

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

, and was eventually liberated by United States forces. After some time as a displaced person, he emigrated to the United States, eventually owned several restaurants in Niagara Falls, and became known as a successful New York businessman. In 1956, he established the Samuel Friedman Foundation to support and strengthen Jewish educational initiatives and programs. These projects have involved the local community in Buffalo, New York, and have continued after Samuel Friedman's death from a cardiac arrest. The foundation maintains his original intention through the establishment of projects such as The Samuel Friedman Library in the Institute for Jewish Thought and Heritage at the University of Buffalo. It also contributed significantly to the establishment of the

Hineni Esther Jungreis (April 27, 1936 – August 23, 2016, 19 Menachem Av, 5776) was a Jewish, Hungarian-born, American author, and public speaker. She was the founder of the international Hineni organization in the United States. A Holocaust survivo ...

Endowment Campaign at the Kadimah School in Buffalo. The Samuel Friedman Foundation was termed a "medium"-sized grant giver in a report entitled "Profile of Foundation Giving in Western New York" prepared for the Western New York Grantmakers Association by the University at Buffalo Regional Institute. It remains a non-profit organization, noted for its contributions to the general Buffalo community, and for its Rescue Award, given annually.

Rescue Award

In 1984, Friedman created the Samuel Friedman (Rescue) Award as a tribute to the

Danish people Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

for the rescue of Jews in October 1943. This award is given annually from the Foundation offices at UCLA. In 1985, the '' Los Angeles Times'' reported that two professors would be awarded the Rescue Award:

Uffe Haagerup Uffe Valentin Haagerup (19 December 1949 – 5 July 2015) was a mathematician from Denmark. Biography Uffe Haagerup was born in Kolding, but grew up on the island of Funen, in the small town of Fåborg. The field of mathematics had his interes ...

, professor of mathematics at the

University of Odense Odense University was a university in Odense, Denmark. It was established in 1966. In 1998, the university was merged with two other institutions to form the University of Southern Denmark. Its campus is now known as University of Southern Denmar ...

; and Arne Noe Nygaard, Professor Emeritus of geology at the University of Copenhagen, on May 4 in ceremonies celebrating the 40th anniversary of Denmark's liberation from the Nazis. Recipients of this award have included many Danes associated with education and academia: * Gert D. Billing - University of Copenhagen * Birgit H. Satir - Yeshiva University * Klaus Bock -

Carlsberg A/S Carlsberg A/S (; ) is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. T ...

Lene Hau Lene Vestergaard Hau (; born November 13, 1959) is a Danish physicist and educator. She is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics at Harvard University. In 1999, she led a Harvard University team who, by use of a Bose–E ...

- Harvard University *

Jens Norskov Jens may refer to: * Jens (given name), a list of people with the name * Jens (surname), a list of people * Jens, Switzerland, a municipality * 1719 Jens, an asteroid See also * Jensen (disambiguation) * Jenssi Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) i ...

Jens K. Nørskov I , Chemical Engineering
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Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

References

{{Reflist Educational foundations in the United States Charities based in New York (state)