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Americans for Ben-Gurion University Receives $17.4 Million from Estate of Nazi Refugee and Philanthropist Eric Ross

Americans for Ben-Gurion University Receives $17.4 Million from Estate of Nazi Refugee and Philanthropist Eric Ross

November 11, 2011

Press Releases

NEW YORK, November 7, 2011 — American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Americans for Ben-Gurion University) recently received a $17.4 million bequest from the estate of businessman and philanthropist Eric Ross of South Orange, New Jersey and West Palm Beach, Florida.

In recent years, Ross and his late wife Lore made frequent gifts to BGU. They supported numerous Ben-Gurion University programs, including scholarships for students in need, capital projects, as well as community service programs for disadvantaged residents of the Negev region.  An outgrowth of their extraordinary personal relationship with BGU President Prof. Rivka Carmi, M.D., they also made numerous contributions to the President’s Discretionary Fund.

Ross rose from humble beginnings, fleeing Nazi Germany in 1938 with only $10 in his pocket and arrived in New York on what is now infamously known as Kristallnacht. He started what became an extremely successful business, manufacturing plastics and vinyl products for the flooring industry, as well as compounds for the medical industry. Ross later sold it and began his second career as a philanthropist.  He gave away much of his fortune in his lifetime, determined to contribute to the greater Jewish community.

Over the course of his life, Ross donated approximately $250 million. Education became his philanthropic passion. When Ross was awarded a prestigious honorary doctoral degree from BGU in June 2010, he said, “What does this honorary doctorate mean to me? Well, considering that I never went to college and was forced out of school in 1933 at the age of 14, and have now received the University’s highest honor, I have not yet digested it.” 
 
“Eric Ross was a quintessential American Jewish success story. He escaped the Nazis, arrived with nothing and built a company that would become a pioneer in plastics with his own two hands,” says Doron Krakow, executive vice president of Americans for Ben-Gurion University. “But his story is even more noteworthy for the direction it took into philanthropy. His remarkable bequest will assist countless BGU students and help the University achieve one of its major goals: to provide access to higher education for all.”

During the honorary doctorate ceremony that took place at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., Prof. Rivka Carmi praised Ross, stating, “You are an inspiration. A man who has overcome overwhelming odds: losing home, country, family, and education, you came to this glorious nation, raised a magnificent family, built a business empire, and committed your later years to philanthropy.”

photo credit: Carl Cox

ABOUT AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY

By supporting a world-class academic institution that not only nurtures the Negev, but also shares its expertise locally and globally, Americans for Ben-Gurion University engages a community of Americans who are committed to improving the world. David Ben-Gurion envisioned that Israel’s future would be forged in the Negev. The cutting-edge research carried out at Ben-Gurion University drives that vision by sustaining a desert Silicon Valley, with the “Stanford of the Negev” at its center. The Americans for Ben-Gurion University movement supports a 21st century unifying vision for Israel by rallying around BGU’s remarkable work and role as an apolitical beacon of light in the Negev desert.

About Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev embraces the endless potential we have as individuals and as a commonality to adapt and to thrive in changing environments. Inspired by our location in the desert, we aim to discover, to create, and to develop solutions to dynamic challenges, to pose questions that have yet to be asked, and to push beyond the boundaries of the commonly accepted and possible.

We are proud to be a central force for inclusion, diversity and innovation in Israel, and we strive to extend the Negev’s potential and our entrepreneurial spirit throughout the world. For example, the multi-disciplinary School for Sustainability and Climate Change at BGU leverages over 50 years of expertise on living and thriving in the desert into scalable solutions for people everywhere.

BGU at a glance:  

20,000 students | 800 senior faculty | 3 campuses | 6 faculties: humanities & social sciences, health sciences, engineering sciences, natural sciences, business & management, and desert research.

 

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James Fattal, J Cubed Communications

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