Jewish Contributions to Humanity

#1 in a series

How These
Jewish Chemists
Helped Us
Harness Nature.

The 15 members of the Education Department after their move to the JCC

ADA YONATH (1939-).

user fees and contributions. This
amount is in addition to the JCC’s
own Annual Campaign allocation
of approximately $1.54 million
(creating a new total JCC alloca-
tion of approximately $2.5 million),
including challenge grants, schol-
arships and other historical allot-
ments. The JCC’s annual budget is
$15.8 million.
The transition of the Education
Department staff was paid for, in
part, by a special grant from the
Kahn Foundation, which, “along
with Federation, the JCC board
and donors supported the JCC in
its darkest hours and gave us the
chance to get this right,” Siegel said.
In addition to Lasday’s new title,
Education Department staffers
Judy Loebl became a JCC assis-
tant executive director and Shelly
Chanis became director of adult
Jewish education.
Other hires include Wren Hack
as film festival, book fair and
SAJE director, and Heidi Budaj as
director of community relations.
Larry Poupard, who works for
Financial One, an outside account-
ing firm that helped the JCC put its
books back in shape in 2013 after
accounting errors were discovered,
remains as chief financial officer.
“Our greatest accomplishment is
the assembly of an extraordinary
team of professionals to deliver on
our promise of excellence in edu-
cation and engagement program-
ming,” Siegel said.
Budaj left her job as director
of the Anti-Defamation League’s
Michigan Region to return to the
JCC, where she was program direc-
tor from 2006-2012.
“I could not sit on the sidelines
and watch my beloved JCC rise to
great heights without being a part
of it,” she said.
Her job will be “to share the story
of the renaissance of the agency”
and its new offerings to donors,
partners, members and the com-

munity at large. She also will direct
internal relations and ensure the
JCC has meaningful impact on its
lay leaders and volunteers.
As progress is made on the sev-
en-point plan, some JCC staffers
no longer are there.
“We have rebuilt a new team
prepared to move the organization
forward,” Siegel said. “Our current
culture demands an entrepreneur-
ial mindset that wasn’t right for
everyone. We are leaning in to peo-
ple who take ownership of their
departments and are willing to
take chances to move the needle.”

SYNERGIES FORMED

Moving the Education Department
to the JCC also has had an impact
on Federation.
“The move allows Federation
and the JCC to focus on what they
do best, with Federation’s prime
function being to grow resources
and plan for the long-term future
of the community, and the JCC
now has a deeper pool of talent
to enhance its core role of provid-
ing quality Jewish educational
programs and experiences to our
community,” said Scott Kaufman,
Federation CEO.
Kaufman sees synergies emanat-
ing from the move, like having all
adult education programs under
one umbrella and all programs
dealing with special needs children
together as well.
“Federation’s vision for the
future is to have a more closely
knit collaborative Jewish commu-
nity,” he said. “Transitioning the
Education Department to the JCC
is one step toward this future.”
Currently in progress is the cre-
ation of “JLife,” a new brand/portal
for the community’s education and
engagement programs that will
allow consumers to easily find and
pay for programs online. The idea
was initiated in the JCC plan and
now is in Federation’s wheelhouse.

b. Jerusalem, Israel.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry—2009.
Helping us understand nature’s genetic code.
Yonath was the first woman in the Middle East to
win a Nobel Prize in the sciences and the first woman
in nearly five decades to win the Nobel Prize in Chem-
istry. What was her accomplishment? Discovering the
full 3-D structure of ribosomes, which translates RNA
(DNA’s instructions) into proteins, a key explanatory
process for life. The light she has shown on the inner
workings of ribosomes has vast implications in phar-
macology (such as the mechanisms by which certain
drugs target ribosomes), and thus on the continued improvement of humanity’s stan-
dard of living and quality of life.

SIDNEY ALTMAN (1939-).

b. Montreal, Canada.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry—1989.
Seeing RNA for what it really is.
A fixture at Yale University, Altman’s discoveries
about the role RNA plays in cellular biology earned him
a Nobel Prize, changed biotechnology, and caused sci-
entists to reexamine old theories about how cells work.
RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is the messenger of DNA, our
genetic code—RNA transports and executes DNA’s
instructions throughout the body, organizing proteins
and delivering amino acids. Altman’s discovery was that
RNA is an executor and catalyst of certain biochemical
functions, and doesn’t only carry instructions. His discovery of catalytic RNA, or ribo-
zymes, have led biologists to hypothesize that RNA played a crucial role in the develop-
ment of life on earth. Although ribozymes’ pharmaceutical research is still in the pre-
clinical stage, researchers hope they will one day be able to treat HIV and hepatitis C.

HENRI MOISSAN (1852-1907).

b. Paris, France. d. Paris, France.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry—1906.
The (fluoride) isolationist.
Moving from the field of plant metabolism to inor-
ganic chemistry, Moissan won his Nobel Prize in 1906
for being the first ever chemist to isolate the element
fluorine, a crucial ingredient in mining, nuclear energy,
coolants, refrigerants, agricultural chemicals, dental
care (fluorine is found in most toothpaste), pharma-
ceuticals, and PET scans (which are key in identifying
tumors).

Original Research by Walter L. Field Sponsored by Irwin S. Field Written by Jared Sichel

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