OUR COMMUNITY

T

he American Technion 
Society (ATS) will pres-
ent its highest honor, 
the Albert Einstein Award, 
to Andi and Larry Wolfe of 
Bloomfield Hills on Nov. 5 in a 
ceremony during the American 
Technion Society’s National 
Board Meeting in Chicago. 
“The Wolfes exemplify the 
true spirit of philanthropy,” 
ATS CEO Michael Waxman-
Lenz explained. “They imag-
ine a better future for Israel 
and for humanity through 
science, and they work to 
make it happen.” 
Andi and Larry Wolfe hold 
numerous positions in support 
of Technion. Andi serves on 
the Local Leadership Council 
and on the National Board 
of Directors of the American 
Technion Society, and the 
Governors and Board of 
Directors of the American 
Technion Society
Andi Wolfe attributes her 
involvement with Technion to 
her parents. “My father was 
involved with Technion when 
I was a child. He would talk 
about finding and protecting 
Technion. And fast forward 
many years — a friend of 
mine was trying to form a 
group and, continuing the 
work of my father, we started a 
stock investing club for stocks 
involved with the Technion. 
And it just kind of went for-
ward from there.” 
As for Larry’s commitment to 

Technion, Andi laughs. “Larry 
became involved because he 
married me,
” she said. 
Larry is president of the 
D. Dan and Betty Kahn 
Foundation, which sup-
ports many projects of the 
Technion, as well as projects 
of the University of Michigan, 
the Weitzman Institute and 
the Jewish community. 
“
Andi’s father was very 
active prior to his passing 
. . . that was 10 years ago 
now,” Larry said. “His one 
last request was, that he/
we, the Foundation, should 
endow a Mechanical School of 
Engineering. We did … unfor-
tunately, after he had passed.”
Larry notes that Technion 
is one of the few technological 
universities that has a medical 
school with connections to a 
hospital, Rambam Hospital in 
Haifa. Technion, the medical 
school, and Rambam Hospital, 
are building a Discovery 
Tower, bringing together the 
researchers, technicians and 
clinicians from the medical 
team and the engineering 
departments for synergistic 
cooperation.
The Wolfes have made 
their most recent gift, fund-
ing the Vision Center for 
Translational Medicine and 
Engineering in the Discovery 
Tower. 
Recently, the Technion-
Israel Institute of Technology, 
Rambam Health Care Campus 

joined with Andi and Larry 
Wolfe to announce the estab-
lishment of the Wolfe Center 
for Translational Medicine 
and Engineering. Related 
projects include the D. Dan 
and Betty Kahn Foundation 
Pediatric Pulmonary Institute 
and the D. Dan and Betty 
Kahn Foundation Center for 
Interventional Cardiology. 
A decade ago, Andi and 
Larry Wolfe were involved in 
starting the Michigan-Israel 
Partnership for Research 
and Engineering, connecting 
Technion with other universi-
ties in Michigan and Israel.
Andi and Larry Wolfe agree 
that “we are a team.” 
Larry said, “
Andi does the 
leadership,” taking part in 
conferences and symposia 
with Technion scientists and 
visiting their labs. 
She notes that she has met 
the most “amazing friends” 
among the researchers. Larry, 
she says, “does the philanthro-
py part.” 
Explaining what motivated 
his father-in-law, Larry said, 
“
Andi’s father thought, way 
back to the late 1960s, that 
it would be very important 
that the State of Israel have 
a technological university 
that would be equal to, if not 

surpass … Caltech or MIT — 
which we now believe they 
have achieved.”
Technion was founded 
in 1924 with the mandate 
to build a technological 
research facility in the 
Yishuv (a growing Jewish 
community) in British 
Mandate Palestine. Since the 
State of Israel was founded in 
1948, Technion has contrib-
uted mightily to its success. 
Scientists at Technion have 
driven the knowledge-based 
Israeli start-up economy, 
Albert Einstein was 
among the earliest and most 
famous of the supporters of 
the Technion, so when the 
Technion Society introduced 
its highest award in 1972, it 
appropriately named it the 
Albert Einstein Award. Since 
then, the Society has granted 
it to outstanding “humanitar-
ians who lead by example,” in 
the words of Waxman-Lenz. 
Among previous honorees, 
Waxman-Lenz counts Zubin 
Mehta, who long served as 
music director of the Israel 
Philharmonic Orchestra; sci-
entist Andrew Viterbi, who 
discovered mathematical prin-
cipals that enable research into 
cellular telephone technolo-
gy; actor Kirk Douglas; and 
philanthropist Larry Jackier of 
West Bloomfield. 

Andi and Larry Wolfe to receive 
American Technion Society’s 
highest honor.

True Champions

LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

18 | OCTOBER 27 • 2022 

Larry and Andi Wolfe

