FOR TUFTS UNIVERSIT Y | WINTER 2011 Each year for the past 10 years, when I have welcomed new freshmen to the Hill, I have told them about a

wonderful tradition we embrace here at Tufts—namely, that each generation helps the next.

I tell them they already have seen this tradition in action, in the alumni who interviewed them during the admissions process, and in the upperclass students who came back early from sum-mer to help the new students move in and get oriented to Tufts. I tell them they also have been helped by countless alumni they have never met, who were responsible for building the Tufts they see today.

This university did not build itself. It exists because of the loyal support of generations of alumni, parents, and friends.

This issue of Blueprint tells the very human stories of some of those Tufts benefactors and the special reasons behind their generous gifts to the university. These stories underscore that every notable achievement in the Beyond Boundaries cam-paign has begun with a unique inspiration.

We hope you enjoy the features in this “Achievements and Inspiration” edition of the newsletter. And we thank you for your own continuing support of Tufts. Underlying all we do here is your generosity—and that, we find truly inspiring. Sincerely, Lawrence S. Bacow

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Frieda Kress was born in New York City in 1909,” says her grandson, Jeffrey Moslow, A86. “She passed away just shy of 95 in

2004. Her husband, Sol, died when she was 55. Their relationship was truly special, and rather than remarrying, or even dating, she chose to keep the memories of her beloved Sol in her heart and soul forever. She immersed herself in her grandchildren’s upbringing and was like a second mother. Her legacy is two children, four grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

“Frieda embodied certain admirable traits and values. While she only had a high-school education, she was highly educated in teach-ing others how to carry themselves. First and foremost, Frieda believed, ‘If you have nothing nice to say about someone, don’t say anything.’

I can honestly say I never, ever heard her utter any negative commentary on even individu-als I knew she did not care for! Her second and equally important lesson to others was, ‘Self-praise is no recommendation.’ This was her ver-sion of ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick.’ She always told me, if you have a lot to be proud of, do not brag about it; if it really is that extraordi-nary, others will take notice without you having to highlight it.

“Frieda carried herself with integrity, warmth, and a great sense of wisdom on human nature. Everyone who ever met Frieda Kress would comment on what a truly special woman she was. I hope that the values she stood for can be recognized and passed on to future recipients of her scholarship fund.”

Frank Colcord, chairman of the political science department, was a Mr. Chips-type professor, a first-class gentleman,” recalls longtime Washington,

D.C., attorney Joe Findaro, A78, A12P, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior under President Reagan and a self-described “behind-the-scenes Tufts consi-gliere” who has helped many young alumni get a footing in the nation’s capital. “I was premed in the fall of 1976, but found a greater calling toward law and government. I went in to see Frank Colcord for advice, and we became great friends. He inspired me to double-major in politi-cal science and psychology. He asked me to be a teaching assistant, even though I had no experience with his course, Introduction to the City. He challenged me to do an hon-ors thesis so I could qualify for summa cum laude. I said, ‘Frank, I’d have to get straight A’s next semester to hit the GPA mark!’ He said, ‘You will.’ No matter that Frank was a liberal Democrat and I started the College Republicans: he became my Tufts mentor. He was a real inspiration, an all-around nice, decent guy. He was like family to me.”

To honor the memory of his grand-mother, Mr. Moslow, a partner at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York City, established the Frieda Kress Scholarship Fund in 2006 to provide need-based undergraduate schol-arship support for students in the School of Arts and Sciences who are highly qualified inner-city youth or youth from other locales where the average poverty rates are high. He

The professor who changed everything

A modest woman’s noble life

Prof. Frank Colcord arrived at Tufts in 1969 and retired in 1994. He served as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1980 to 1987.

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since has made two gifts supplement-ing the fund, which has grown 300 percent as a result of his generosity. Four students to date have benefited.

“The Frieda Kress Scholarship affected my academic career—and my life—dramatically,” wrote Laura Uwakwe, A08, in 2008, shortly before receiving her degree

in international relations. “As the daughter of Nigerian immigrants liv-ing in Brooklyn, N.Y., I learned from an early age that with the many odds against me, success would not come easy. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could ever afford an education from a university such as Tufts. But here I am, less than one month from graduation. Without the gift of this scholarship, I could

not stand and say this. For this, I am infinitely grateful.” Katherine Nittman, A12, of Fort Collins, Colo., double-majoring in sociology and peace and social jus-tice, finds it difficult to quantify all the ways the Kress Scholarship has touched her. “The effects are pretty far-reaching,” she says. “It repre-sents the difference between being here and not being here.”

Findaro gives monetarily to the Tufts Fund for Arts, Sciences & Engineering, and gives even more of his time and energy to his alma mater. “Tufts is a lifelong experience,” he says. This April he plans to run his fourth Boston Marathon with the President’s Marathon Challenge team. This past spring he saw his son Mark, A12, win a national title with the men’s lacrosse team. He also has been active on the Parents Committee and on his 25th and 30th Class Reunion committees. “Tufts is one of the greatest undergraduate institutions in the country, if not the world,” he says. “It’s a hands-on place where students get to know their president, deans, teachers, and coaches—all of whom teach you not only to be strong intel-lectually, but to have a heart.”

Support in the form of financial con-tributions and volunteer time helps ensure the next generation of Tufts students enjoys a first-class educa-tion. Gifts to the Tufts Fund support student scholarships, faculty excel-lence, academic and athletic pro-grams, facilities, and technological resources—all the things that make up the essence of Tufts. Volunteers, in the meantime, are critical to Tufts’ success. Whether spreading the word about the university’s goals and initia-tives or working with development staff to raise funds, volunteers are needed more than ever to help Tufts’ Beyond Boundaries campaign reach its $1.2 billion goal.

The New York skyline as it appeared to a young Frieda Kress in the 1920s. Gener­ations later, a scholar­ship bearing Frieda’s name is enabling Katherine Nittman, A12, (left) to attend Tufts.

Joe Findaro at the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon with President Larry Bacow, left, and Coach Don Megerle.

“I went in to see Frank Colcord for advice, and we became great friends. He inspired me.”

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News of the Beyond Boundaries Campaign Winter 2011

His story, it’s been said, is like one out of Dickens. Aso Tavitian, a penniless 19-year-old émigré of Armenian descent, had received a scholarship

to college in Beirut, but had resigned himself to turning down the opportunity because he couldn’t afford living expenses. Out of the blue, just before school was to begin, the young man was notified funds suddenly had become available to cover his costs. It wasn’t until a few years later that he learned, from a file left uncovered on an admin-istrator’s desk, that one of his teachers had been paying his expenses, with instructions that the donation should remain anonymous. “That obviously had a great impact on me,” Tavitian says. “My teacher was a man of very modest means, and his desire that I not be told was the ultimate in giving.”

“With 11 different classes in the short course, it’s quite comprehen-sive—and quite demanding,” says Anahit Petrosyan, who studied at Fletcher this past year under the six-month program. Petrosyan plans a public-sector career in finance and development after having worked in the past for the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance in Armenia and for the aid agency the Millennium Challenge Corp. She said she valued her time spent in Fletcher’s international learning community. “The Fletcher experi-ence is communicated to people from different nations regardless of

religion or the color of their skin,” she says. “People are very simi-lar: they have the same problems, the same fears, the same goals. Fletcher makes the world quite small.” She was moved by Mr. Tavitian’s generosity in making this opportunity possible. “As Armenians we are very proud there is such a person,” she says. “Because of the education he received, he prom-ised he would support people in the future. Our students, if some-day they have a chance to support someone’s education, will do it with great pleasure. If I can, I will do it with great pleasure.”

Tavitian went on to become very successful in business, and through the charitable works of his Tavitian Foundation, the Armenian-American philanthropist says, he is paying his former teacher back. Over the past 10 years more than 150 young Armenian diplomats and government officials have received support from the foundation for advanced training at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Aso Tavitian and Joyce Barsam, J62, AG89, a Fletcher over-seer, created what is now called the Tavitian Scholarship Program with the aim of training professionals from the fledgling republic in Western-style leadership.

Faith in the next generation

In Beirut, circa 1960: Aso Tavitian (right) with brother, Henry (center), and a family friend. The Fletcher School’s Cabot Hall

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Tufts always has been an important presence in my life,” says Paul I. Wren Jr., E57, who means it lit-erally. His grandfather was dean of men at Tufts.

His parents met at Tufts and his banker father was a life trustee of the university. And his family practically lived on campus, in a house at 65 Talbot Ave., located on what is now the site of the Mayer Student Center. “I used to go to the Tufts football games with my father, and I went to the Tufts basketball games,” recalls Wren, now retired after a career as a financial manager with the Norton Co., a Worcester-based manufacturing firm. “I also remember very well the putting green and golf course behind the Chemistry Building. I used the putting green a lot. It was fun. My parents’ 50th anniversary celebration was held at Alumnae Hall on Talbot Ave. It was a very nice party with many of their relatives and friends. Tufts was a part of my life, and a positive one.”

Their family and others—having established in 1951 the Frank G. Wren Memorial Scholarship in honor of their grandfather the dean, Wren and his sisters, Frances Raymond and Mary Swain—decided about 10 years ago to establish the Paul I. and Alice T. Wren Memorial Scholarship in honor of their parents.

“The students who get these scholarships write to the three of us each year,” Wren says. “I’ve been very impressed by their letters. An important theme: Almost always they say this scholarship really helped them as far as being able to go to Tufts. It really made a difference. I get a warm feeling when I read that.”

One recipient of the Paul and Alice Wren Scholarship, Stephanie Kreutz, A09, an English and music major from San Diego, wrote last year: “I feel privileged to be a part of the Tufts community. Outside of class I participate in Opera Ensemble, two dance groups, and a sketch comedy troupe, and take private voice lessons. In past semes-ters I have also sung in Tufts Chorale and volunteered through Special Friends at the Tufts University Educational Daycare Center. The small classes have really allowed me to connect with the incredible faculty, and I have found every course to be extremely valuable. One of my favorite courses was creative writing. The professor made an effort to get to know each of his students personally and he helped me grow as a writer and as a person. It is classes like these that make Tufts so special.”

Honoring family, and home

MEMORIES OF A CHILDHOOD ON CAMPUS…

Top: On campus in the early ’40s, Paul Wren Sr. with his children, Frances, Mary, and Paul Jr. Center left: Dean Frank Wren, in 1928. Center right: Paul Wren Sr. and Jr. in 1978. Bottom: The Mayer Student Center now rises from the site of the Wrens’ house on Talbot Ave.

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Mrs. Grisard-Schrafl along with her husband made possible a $3 million gift to the School of Medicine from the Switzerland-based Foundation for Research in Gastroenterology and Related Fields. The gift endowed the professorship held by neuroscience chair Philip Haydon while further-ing neuroscience research benefit-ing the field of gastroenterology. Mrs. Grisard-Schrafl is the daughter of two physicians, so the gift to benefit the School of Medicine, she has said,

was one close to her heart. She also wished to express her gratitude to Dr. Michael Rosenblatt, former dean of the School of Medicine, and Dr. Paul Friedmann, emeritus clinical profes-sor at the School of Medicine and former chair of surgery and academic dean at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, a major academic affiliate of Tufts, for the excellent care given to Dr. Grisard during treatment of a leg ailment a few years ago.

University Trustee Emerita Annetta Grisard-Schrafl, J94P, a retired civil court judge in Basel, and her husband, Dr. Gustav Grisard, an industrialist,

have maintained a strong connection to Tufts since their daughter Dominique, J94, was a student. They became members of the Society of Tufts Fellows and chaired the Tufts International Parents Fund Program in the German-

speaking region of Switzerland for several years. Mrs. Grisard-Schrafl was a member of Tufts’ Board of Trustees from 1997–2007. She has served on the Academic Affairs Committee, the Honorary Degree Committee, and the University Development Committee, and currently sits on Tufts’ International Board of Overseers. In addition, she has played a key role in creating a Tufts Club of Switzerland.

Empowering excellence, enabling discovery

Researchers and graduate students in the Neuroscience Department at the School of Medicine are thriving in new facilities and under the leadership of Grisard Professor Philip Haydon.

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Dr. Iqbal Singh has always gone that extra mile for his students. A professor of pre-clinical studies in the division of prosth-

odontics and operative dentistry at the School of Dental Medicine, he advises students to “make a difference in someone’s life,” and has shown them that the smallest kindness can leave the most lasting impression.

More than 20 years ago, two students were inspired by such a kindness: they were getting married, but the groom’s family lived too far away to attend the wedding. Without hesitation, Dr. Singh and his wife quietly offered to stand in for the groom’s parents. Since then, the students have graduated from the dental school and built careers and a family.

Support from the Grisards has helped the School of Medicine build a remarkable team that is shedding new light on the workings of the human brain. Professor Haydon had an ambi-tious goal when he arrived in 2008 to direct Tufts’ program in neuroscience: “We are going to be the best,” he said. Tufts has made a major com-mitment to a field seen as one of the great unexplored frontiers of science; one measure of the progress to date has been the rise in the program’s national ranking in NIH funding, from 34th in 2008 to 10th last year. The research to be done at Tufts is expected to have significant impact on the treatment of epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, and other diseases. “We’re only just scratching the surface when it comes to understanding the workings of the brain,” says Jamshed Bharucha, Tufts’ provost and senior vice president. “Neuroscience is one of the virtu-ally unlimited horizons opening up for future research.”

Decades later, these grateful alumni are finally able to say thank you to the teacher whose generous spirit supported them beyond the class-room; they’ve named the instructor’s station of the new Simulation Learning Center in Dr. Singh’s honor. “I came to Tufts with not a dime to my name,” says the anonymous alumnus. “I left with a whole life in my hands. Dr. Singh is a great teacher and an even better person.”

In a ceremony this past November, Dr. Singh was presented with the plaque that was to be installed in the Simulation Learning Center, where he regularly teaches. The entire second-

year D13 class attended the cer-emony in the preclinical lab on the eighth floor. Dr. Singh spoke of how much the honor meant to him and the strength of the community at the dental school. In turn he announced he will assist any students in D13 who wish to pursue humanitarian trips by providing funding from his own personal resources to help them with their costs. “My career at the school spans 35 glorious and rewarding years,” says Dr. Singh, “and I have enjoyed every moment. I tell my students to work hard and serve the public in an honest and professional manner becoming the dental profession— but do not forget your roots.”

A kindness repaid

A professor of preclinical

studies also shares life’s

lessons

Dr. Singh speaks to students at the School of Dental Medicine

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In the midst of his wife’s mounting battle with cancer, Valvo Raag, of Lincoln, Mass., faced yet another chal-lenge—his dog, a Belgian Tervuren named Taurus,

was becoming increasingly aggressive. “We were strug-gling with what to do and did not want to have him eutha-nized,” says Raag’s daughter, Tarja Raag, who believed the stressful atmosphere in her parents’ home was the likely cause of Taurus’s behavioral change. Worried not only for her parents’ safety, Ms. Raag also feared for her children. “Moreover, I was personally concerned that my dad be

able to get his buddy healthy,” she adds, “in case my mom did not make it through her treatment.”

She did not. Sadly, Kaija Raag passed away last May, but her husband is not alone.

The day the Raag family realized that Taurus’s condi-tion required professional attention, Mr. Raag immediately recalled a letter he had received from the Cummings School development office. “I called on a whim,” says his daughter. “They were very compassionate, listened to our long story, and made a connection for us with the behavioral depart-ment at the Foster Hospital—they saw Taurus that day.”

After a year of medical treatment and training, Mr. Raag’s beloved friend is back to his old self—but “1,000 percent better,” according to one veterinary technician. “Taurus has really become a sweet and gentle guy,” adds Raag’s daughter. “He and my dad have become the sweet-est pair. They are very close and it is really special to know that they have each other.”

In honor of the time that Drs. Nicholas Dodman, Niwako Ogata, and Steven Rowell spent with Taurus and the Raag family over the course of a very difficult year, Valvo Raag gave $10,000 to the Cummings Veterinary Fund for the Henry and Lois Foster Hospital for Small Animals. In a note attached to his gift, Mr. Raag wrote that these three doctors showed a kindness to him and his wife during her illness. Their care not only saved a dog’s life, but also helped a grieving man.

The Foster Hospital for Small Animals provides 24-hour service 365 days a year for dogs, cats, and other small animals kept as pets. More than 26,000 cases a year are treated at this teaching facility, with faculty specialists on hand for every field of animal medicine. And the hospital’s devoted staff helps families like the Raags keep a happy, healthy home.

More than a best friend

The Raag family: Tarja (top left) with father, Valvo, her children, and Taurus. Treatment by Cummings School veterinarians at the Foster Hospital made Taurus a beloved companion once again.

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Leah Horowitz, N06, matched a formidable intelligence with an infectious sense of fun, recalls

friend Julia McDonald, N07, MG07. “I knew the first night I met her that Leah would be a close friend for a long time,” McDonald says. “Her skills and ability in the classroom were awe-inspiring and sometimes even intimidating: She grasped mate-rial and put it in the big-picture con-text more quickly than anyone I’ve ever known. Yet what was so incred-ible about Leah was the balance to her soaring intel-lectual capabilities. She was one of the goofiest people I ever met. I remember many late nights of long study ses-sions where Leah would break out into a hip-hop dance party, or proclaim that she wanted a cookie and embark on a mission to either find and purchase one or make them herself. She injected humor into even the driest statistics project, and I was a better student because of it. In Janu-ary of my second year of grad school, a nor’easter blizzard dumped 23 inches of snow in Boston just before the first day of classes. Leah planned a slumber party, and a group of us ended up playing board games, cooking and eating wonderful food, and making snow angels at Leah’s house for about 24 hours until we could leave the house.”

As a Dartmouth undergraduate, Horowitz had studied in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and she aspired to return

To honor Horowitz’s memory, McDonald and classmates Aimee Wittemann, N06, Elanor Starmer, N07, F07, Kumar Chandran, N07, M07, Julie Thayer, N07, M07, and Sally Abbott, J01, N06, worked with the Friedman School to create the Leah Horowitz Humanitarian Award. The award recognizes a Friedman alumnus or alumna who shares a commitment to addressing complex problems in the food system in ways

that empower individuals and com-munities. The friends also raised more than $3,000 in Leah’s memory to support a Friedman student in an international internship.

Courtney Anderson, N09, M09, first recipient of the Leah Horowitz Humanitarian Award, currently is working for World Vision in Cambodia. In a message of acceptance, trans-

mitted from Southeast Asia, Anderson said: “I am sincerely humbled and honored to have been chosen as the first recipient of the Leah Horowitz Humanitarian Award. The celebra-tion of humanitarian service which this award represents and the lovely woman to whom this award pays tribute provide a very profound and personal reminder of the importance of applying our talents and skills to enrich our world.”

In memory of a rare spirit

to Africa. After graduating from the Friedman School, she worked for the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, D.C., and asked to be transferred to Ghana, where she focused on sustainable agriculture, ever mindful of how agriculture can be used as a tool to increase food security and reduce poverty. She died tragi-cally in a car accident in Ghana in May 2009. “I miss her and think about her every day,” McDonald says.

“What was so incredible about Leah was the balance to her soaring intellectual capabilities.…She injected

humor into even the driest statistics project.”

Leah Horowitz pursued her professional aspirations in Ghana.

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For the Tufts baseball team, 1950 was a storybook season. The Jumbos (16-4) went all the way to the NCAA College World Series, the only Tufts nine

ever to do so. “We won really close games against good competitors,” recalls Arnold Castagner, A50, of Tunbridge, Vt., a utility infielder on that team. “BC and BU were our big rivals, and we beat Holy Cross, which was a power-house back then. In the College World Series, Gene Conley, who went on to play for both the Red Sox and the Celtics, pitched against us for Washington State.” While Tufts’ national championship hopes were ended by Texas, the Jumbos’ season was one for the ages. “We hung together and won the big games,” says Castagner. “It sort of seemed like we were in the big time.” Castagner appeared mostly as a pinch-runner or pinch-hitter. “The highlight of my season was getting up to hit in the World Series in Omaha,” he said. “I went up to pinch hit and was really loose. I loved to hit fastball pitching. I hit the ball right on the nose, but right at the centerfielder.”

Castagner cites the influence of a “great history pro-fessor” at Tufts, Ruhl Bartlett, on his choice of career as a teacher and coach at Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, Vt. “I coached baseball, basketball, and JV football, and I taught everything,” he says. “I was a jack of all trades.” Castagner also coached future Red Sox Hall-of-Famer Carlton Fisk on the American Legion baseball team in Bellows Falls, Vt.

Chair, Board of TrusteesJames A. Stern, E72, A07P

PresidentLawrence S. Bacow, Ph.D.

ProvostJamshed J. Bharucha, Ph.D.

Campaign ChairsPamela K. Omidyar, J89 Pierre M. Omidyar, A88 Jonathan M. Tisch, A76

Honorary ChairsWilliam S. Cummings, A58, M97P, J97P Dr. Bernard M. Gordon, H92 Daniel F. Pritzker, A81, A12P Karen M. Pritzker, J83, A12P

Blueprint for Tufts University

University Advancement • Tufts University, 80 George Street, 200-3, Medford, MA 02155 • 617.627.3200 • giving@tufts.edu

Executive CommitteeKathryn C. Chenault, Esq., J77 Steven B. Epstein, Esq., A65, A96P, A01P, A07P, AG04P Nathan Gantcher, A62, H04 Martin J. Granoff, A91P Daniel A. Kraft, A87Joseph E. Neubauer, E63, J90P Agnes Varis, H03

THE DREAM SEASON OF 1950

CULMINATED IN A TRIP TO

THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES.

CASTAGNER, A50, RECALLS THE

EXCITEMENT AND THE SPECIAL, LIFE-

LONG BOND AMONG TEAMMATES.

The living legacy and timeless tradition

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“I remember Tufts fondly, and hope it continues to do well in all areas,” says Castagner, who has given gener-ously to the university, contributing to the construction of the field house named for his “great friend,” the late John Baronian, A50, H97, and provid-ing for Tufts in his estate plan. Two other gifts he has made to the Tufts baseball team are unique. One is a baseball signed by the members of the 1950 College World Series squad. The other is a bat used by Babe Ruth when he played for the Boston Braves in 1935. Castagner acquired the Ruth bat on a 1950 visit to Braves Field with the Tufts ball team. The Braves invited each of the Tufts players to pick a bat to keep. “I picked that one,” he said. “It turned out to be one of Babe Ruth’s bats. I used it until it cracked; then I taped it and contin-ued using it.” Today a Babe Ruth bat would sell at auction for thousands of dollars, he acknowledges. “Tufts is more important than money,” he says.

A planned gift like the one included in Mr. Castagner’s will leaves a lasting personal legacy of support for scholar-ship, teaching, and research. He has designated that his bequest support athletic programs at Tufts. Meantime, he and his fellow teammates from 60 years ago—who were honored before a Red Sox game at Fenway Park this past spring—provide a living legacy

to the Tufts ballplayers of today. “Before they went to Fenway they had a chance to meet the current team, and it was the best time of the night,” says John Casey, A80, AG83, base-ball head coach. “We’re all part of the same tradition. As we tell the players every year, leave the place better than when you came. Those guys from 1950 set a high bar.”

1.) Arnold Castagner, A50 (front row, third from right), was a utility infielder on the 1950 team that went to the College World Series. 2.) Sixty years later, the retired teacher and coach from Vermont (front row, second from left) joined his old teammates for a reunion. 3.) The team was honored at a Red Sox game. 4.) In 1950, they were photographed as they departed Logan Airport for the College World Series in Omaha. 5.) Their diamond exploits were celebrated by Boston Globe cartoonist Gene Mack.

News of the Beyond Boundaries Campaign Winter 2011

University Advancement 80 George Street, Suite 200-3, Medford, MA 02155

My belief is that any univer-sity worth its salt needs to have great art,” says Kenneth

Aidekman, A75, co-chair of the Tufts University Art Gallery Advisory Board. “The experience of being around art, on campus, every day, as a student over the course of four years, impacts who you are and become for the rest of your life. It is incredibly enriching.

“Art is transformative. It really matters. It changes how you see the world and how you interact with it. The work I do on behalf of the art center at Tufts University makes me feel really good, every single day.”

The Aidekman name is synony-mous with the visual arts at Tufts. Ken

Aidekman’s parents, Shirley and the late Alex Aidekman, made the nam-ing gift for the Aidekman Art Center, which opened in 1991 and houses the Tufts University Art Gallery and the Marston Balch Arena Theater. The gallery animates the intellectual life of the greater university community through exhibitions and programs exploring new, global perspectives on art and on art discourse.

Aidekman is delighted with what he sees as a “renaissance of art appre-ciation” on campus. “I am thrilled at what [gallery curator] Amy Schlegel has done. I want to get the word out to others: if you haven’t been back to campus and seen the Art Center, please come and visit.”

Aidekman recently gave $100,000 to establish a fund supporting the Tufts University Art Gallery and the University Permanent Art Collection.

The Kenneth Aidekman Family Fund will enhance the art gallery’s capacity to attract as well as create art exhibi-tions of the highest caliber. The fund also supports the display of works from the permanent collection and other efforts through the visual arts to enhance the student experience. “By making this gift I’m hoping others will follow the example and support the arts,” says Aidekman, of Short Hills, N.J., co-founder and vice- president of Highview Capital.

To be transformed by the arts

Kenneth Aidekman