Waltham’s Brandeis University Receives $10M Alumni Gift

WALTHAM, MA — Brandeis University has received a $10 million gift from Alumna and Fellow Bobbi Samuels and her family to create a center that will transform civic and community engagement at the school.

Endowed in honor of the late Vic Samuels, class of 1963, the Vic and Bobbi Samuels ’63 Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation will bring together students, faculty, staff, practitioners, and researchers in an innovative, interdisciplinary environment to address community needs and advance civic transformation.

“We are grateful to the Samuels family, and we will use their generosity as a tool to shape our communities – and our world – for the better and illuminate Vic’s legacy for generations to come,” said President Ron Liebowitz in a message to the Brandeis community.

The creation of the Samuels Center is a direct response to the objectives outlined in the school’s Framework for the Future, which focuses on re-engaging Brandeis’ founding ethos of learning, engaging in critical analysis, and using one’s gifts to help repair the world.

According to Brandeis, the Samuels Center will harness the school’s community service culture and deepen the engagement of students, faculty and staff across campus, in Waltham, in Greater Boston, and beyond.

Brandeis students and faculty are known for engaging with communities outside of campus in teaching, learning, and service work. More than 20,000 volunteers have served their communities through the student-run Waltham Group since its founding in 1966, and members contribute up to 30,000 hours of service annually.

For more information about the new Samuels Center, click here.