USC Life Trustee and philanthropist Glorya Kaufman passed away on August 5. Her grant in 2012 led to the founding of the Kaufman School of Dance, the same year she became a member of the Board of Trustees. Kaufman also donated $18 million to help UCLA renovate their dance building in 1999.
“Glorya’s love for dance was contagious, and she spread that love by creating opportunities for people everywhere to experience the transformative impact and joy of the arts,” interim President Beong-Soo Kim said. “She was a valued trustee whom I was fortunate to spend time with just last week at the Board meeting. Her legacy will continue to touch generations of Kaufman students for decades to come.”
Kaufman also donated to several Los Angeles-based organizations, including but not limited to the American Jewish University, the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and a reconstruction effort for the Los Angeles Public Library’s Donald Bruce Kaufman-Brentwood Branch Library, named for her late husband. Her donations helped open the Glorya Kaufman Community Center, a space for arts and education in Culver City. She also founded the Glorya Kaufman Foundation, which helped fund The Juilliard School, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and USC’s Kaufman School of Dance.