Building a Hub for Intercultural Dialogue and Education

Image: Dean Michael J. Horswell and Marilyn Wallach

 

For Kurt and Marilyn Wallach, the Holocaust is personal. Two hundred of their family members were lost during this horrific event, which led the Wallachs to share a lifelong commitment to ensure its lessons remain relevant today and in the future. Thanks to a historic $20 million gift, the largest in the University’s history, FAU will become the epicenter for intercultural dialogue and education in the greater South Florida region.

The Wallachs’ transformational gift includes $10M to construct the Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building, a distinctive facility on FAU’s Boca Raton campus that will serve as the hub for Holocaust and Jewish studies, human rights education, and leadership training. It also will memorialize the six million Jews and other victims of the Holocaust, honor its survivors, and bring together educational programs that champion social justice, compassion and understanding through enhanced collaborations.

The Wallach building will bring together signature FAU programs, including the:

• Arthur and Emalie Gutterman Family Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education
• Raddock Family Eminent Scholar in Holocaust Studies
• Herbert and Elaine Gimelstob Eminent Scholar in Jewish Studies
• Jewish Studies Program
• Center for Peace, Justice and Human Rights
• Leon Charney Diplomacy Program
• Barb Schmidt Fellowship in Cultivating Community Involvement, Advocacy and Social Change
  
  

The second half of the Wallachs’ gift is a $10M estate gift that will establish the future Wallach Institute for Holocaust and Jewish Studies with an endowment to fund faculty and staff, visiting scholars, lectures, scholarships and fellowships, study abroad opportunities, capital expenditures or building improvements in these disciplinary areas.

In September 2021, Kurt Wallach passed away; however, the Wallach Building and Institute will carry on his legacy and desire to educate the community about the Holocaust and its atrocities.

"We believe education is our best hope against hatred,” said Michael J. Horswell, dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters. “The philanthropy that the Wallach family invested in FAU and the greater South Florida community will ensure that the lessons of the past are relevant today and into perpetuity, providing the resources to teach the importance of understanding history, speaking up, and acting against all forms of bigotry and prejudice.”

As a public university, FAU’s core mission is to unleash opportunities for all students with an eye to equity and inclusion. Education can help combat prejudice, hatred and indifference through the teaching of remarkable stories of courage that emerged from one of humanity’s darkest periods, and timeless lessons that will help create a better world for future generations.

“We are honored and grateful for Kurt and Marilyn Wallach’s enormous generosity,” said FAU President John Kelly. “This historic gift will ensure that, through education, we continue to build bridges of understanding and empathy for generations to come.”   

The Wallach’s gift builds on FAU’s traditions of excellence. FAU’s eminent scholar Dr. Alan L. Berger, the Raddock Family Eminent Scholar Chair for Holocaust Studies, was the first Holocaust chair established in Florida. His research and teaching have had a big impact in South Florida and around the country. The Herbert and Elaine Gimelstob Eminent Scholar in Jewish Studies Chair is another scholarly resource that enriches the University and community through research, public lectures and international conferences. Finally, the Arthur and Emalie Gutterman Family Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education has provided K-12 teachers with training for the teaching of the Holocaust for the past 25 years.

FAU’s Peace, Justice and Human Rights Center is a University-wide effort that brings together scholars, students, practitioners and community leaders who are engaged in the themes of social justice, human rights, and peace and nonviolence. Within the Center, the Leon Charney Diplomacy Program offers students interested in international affairs opportunities to enhance their diplomatic skills in areas such as speech writing, public speaking, negotiation, dispute resolution and research. Also, the Barb Schmidt Fellowship offers high school students a platform to develop the essential skills essential for driving social change.

FAU will soon begin a fundraising campaign that will energize the impact and reach of the Jewish and Holocaust Studies, human rights education, and leadership training programs across the University and throughout the community.  To learn more about naming and legacy opportunities, please contact Laurie Carney, 561-297-3606 or Lcarney@fau.edu.