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