AFHU_News_Vol.21_9.13.18 Spreads (1)

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AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY
AFHU NEWS VOL. 21 PAGE 15
Mary Ann Tuft:
Leading by Example
How one AFHU Leader Shows her Support
in Multiple Ways
AFHU national and regional board
member, Mary Ann Tuft, first journeyed
to Israel in 1960. Active in the Girl Scouts
since her childhood days in Easton, Pennsylvania,
she was selected by Girl Scouts
U.S.A. to represent the organization on
a six-month Tzofim program. A schoolteacher
with an M.S. degree in Education,
Mary Ann had no sooner arrived in
Israel when she learned that she would
accompany 500 Israeli teens on a trek up
Masada. “I didn’t know anything,” she said.
“I carried a suitcase, including a nightgown,
and wore my official green Bermuda
shorts. We camped outdoors. It was an
incredible experience.”
Thus began her love of Israel, which
she has returned to many times, including
on AFHU missions and for Hebrew
University’s annual International Board
of Governors meetings. She received an
Honorary Fellowship from the Hebrew
University (2012) in tribute to her leadership,
generosity, and commitment, and
has been recognized on the Wall of Life
and Legacy Tree. Deeply supportive of
student education and the field of healthcare,
she established scholarships at the
School of Nursing. “Israel needs nurses
with advanced degrees. Knowledge of
medicine matters as much as patient care,
and many students are financially disadvantaged,”
said Mary Ann, who also wants
to “increase recognition of the university’s
outstanding nursing program.”
A proponent of AFHU planned giving,
Mary Ann has established seven CGAs in
addition to a bequest. “I am amazed at
how much Israel has grown and achieved,”
she stated. “Today there is so much innovation
and technology, much of it developed
by the Hebrew University. I want to
help the university continue its incredible
programs and avoid brain drain in the
years ahead.”
Mary Ann’s laddering approach creates
a secure, continuing income stream. “It’s a
safe, smart way of investing while I’m giving,”
she observes. “I am semi-retired and the
CGA suits me personally and financially. I
can be of service to others without experiencing
financial hardship. And each time
I establish a new CGA, the interest rates
increase because rates are linked to age.”
She adds: “I’ve shared the program
with people in finance and they are
impressed with its structure, operation,
and benefits.”
A professional who developed her
career in the nonprofit sector, Mary Ann
left teaching to become involved in association
management. Among other positions,
she served as chief staff officer for
the Radiological Society of North America
and for the National Student Nurses
Association. In 1989, she founded and
became president of Tuft & Associates,
Inc., a national executive search firm,
based in Chicago, that helps associations
and academic institutions to attract high caliber
management talent. The accomplished executive is
modest about her success. “I have been fortunate,”
says Mary Ann. “My parents were education-minded
and supported whatever I wanted to pursue, even at
a time when most women were not on a career path.”
AFHU’s Midwest Region conferred a Lifetime
Achievement Award upon Mary Ann Tuft, celebrating
her exemplary contributions. “I was surprised, pleased,
and honored to receive the award,” says Mary Ann,
Mary Ann Tuft and family in Israel, 2012
“but mainly I hoped the award would encourage other
people to become involved. We can make a positive
impact on the future of the university.”