Baruch College’s Weissman School of Arts and Sciences Receives $2M Grant from the Edmond J. Safra Foundation

Baruch College's Weissman School of Arts and Sciences Receives $2M Grant from the Edmond J. Safra Foundation

September 13, 2024

The Weissman School of Arts and Sciences at Baruch College is thrilled to announce the receipt of a transformative grant of nearly $2 million from the Edmond J. Safra Foundation. This generous gift, the largest received by the Weissman School since its naming, will support the housing and digitization of the newly acquired Edmond J. Safra Republic National Bank of New York (RNBNY) Archives, provide scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students, and establish a prestigious visiting professorship rotating between five academic disciplines.

Jessica Lang, Dean of the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, expressed her gratitude for the Edmond J. Safra Foundation's support. "This grant is a monumental achievement for our school and a testament to the strength and dedication of our entire community. The opportunities it will create for our students and faculty to engage in archival research and scholarship are unparalleled," she said.

Dov Schlein, Baruch class of 1970 and former CEO of Edmond J. Safra's Republic National Bank, underscored the significance of the new partnership, "This collection offers enduring lessons of success and ethics in business for current and future generations, and they need to be housed in an institution of higher learning with a mission that is aligned with Edmond J. Safra's values. As a top-ranking institution in New York, and a part of CUNY, the country's first free public institution, Baruch offers academic excellence and access to qualified, underserved students - low income, first generation, and immigrants - all values that resonate deeply with Edmond J. Safra's commitment to empower individuals from diverse backgrounds."

The EJS RNBNY Archives, which will now be housed at Baruch College's William and Anita Newman Library, chronicle the banker's remarkable legacy, who founded Republic National Bank of NY and guided it from its inception in 1966 to its sale to HSBC in 1999. The archives encompass extensive documentation of the bank's growth, including a complete set of all Republic Annual Reports and Capital Transactions and Acquisitions, business ethics, institutional leadership, and Edmond J. Safra's support of immigrant communities. The collection thus offers an extraordinary window into the evolution of banking and finance in the late 20th century, as well as an uncommon model of leadership rooted in integrity, care, generosity, and community.

The grant will also fund the creation of the Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship, a rotating position designed to bring distinguished scholars and practitioners from various disciplines to Baruch College. These visiting professors will utilize the RNBNY Archives in their research, teach courses related to the archival themes, and contribute to the academic and cultural life of the departments of Communication Studies, Philosophy, History, Psychology, and Law.

Furthermore, the grant will go to provide much needed scholarship opportunities for students, facilitating their involvement in research projects tied to the archives. These scholarships will be available at both the undergraduate and graduate level, fostering a new generation of scholars, leaders, and financiers who will explore and expand upon Safra's singular legacy that changed the face of banking forever.

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