Metro
Bar-Han University and
its American Friends
proudly announce the recent
opening of the new
Fetter
Research
Wing
Faith Triumphs
Honoree Roz Blanck shares belief
in activism with author Albom.
in the Leslie and Susan Gonda
(Goldschmied) Nanotechnology
Triplex at Bar-Ilan University,
Ramat Gan, Israel
The Midwest Region of
the American Friends of
Bar-Ilan University thanks
Dr. Joseph and Frances
Fetter, of Bloomfield
Hills, for dedicating this
state-of-the-art research
facility in the Gonda
Nanotechnology Triplex.
Their generous support
will strengthen
Bar-Ilan's worldwide
leadership in the field
of nanotechnology — a
vital tool in the next
scientific revolution that
will create more effective
drugs to kill cancer cells,
textiles that eliminate
bacteria in hospitals,
powerful photovoltaic
cells turning solar rays
into greener electricity,
and microscopic robots
fighting disease in the
body.
To learn more about the
vast array of projects
supported by the
American Friends of
Bar-Ilan University,
contact Les Goldstein at
248-540-8900,
email:
les.goldsteingafbiu.org
or visit www.afbiu.org .
18
June 3 • 2010
Jenna, Stanford, Roz, Adam and Lisa Blanck
Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor
R
oz Blanck of Franklin should
have no qualms about pub-
lic speaking, though she is
best known for her behind-the-scenes
work as a Jewish community volunteer
and activist.
She took the stage after Mitch
Albom, Detroit Free Press columnist,
accomplished speaker, talk show guest
and author of many inspirational
books, including Have a Little Faith.
Albom is a hard act to follow.
Yet Blanck, the Jewish Community
Relations Council of Metropolitan
Detroit (JCRC) 2010 Activist of
the Year, wowed the crowd of 350
there to honor her May 25 at the
Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield.
With ease and humor, Blanck was
merely herself, proving why she is so
good at leading the charge among
grassroots volunteers as passionate
as she is about literacy, education
and her beloved David-Horodoker
Organization, a group dedicated to
preserving the history of the Belarus
shtetl.
With grace, she withstood com-
ments at the patron pre-glow and from
her son, Adam, who introduced her
during the program, about the clutter
her projects sometimes cause at home.
And she acknowledged that "I do what
I want to do," as her husband, Stanford,
Author Mitch Albom and Roz Blanck,
Jewish Community Relations
Council's 2010 Activist of the Year
often tells her, and that she's blessed
and fortunate to be able to do so.
Detroit's Jewish community is equally
blessed.
Longtime volunteer Blanck, who
earned her undergraduate and law
degrees from University of Michigan,
was in the first class of what is now
the Jeanette and Oscar Cook Jewish
Occupational Intern Program at JVS
in Southfield. She practiced law with a
local firm and had wanted to use her
skills to head a Jewish nonprofit agen-
cy. Instead, she turned to volunteer-
ism. She spearheaded the community's