Renowned philanthropist Elaine Schuster, a Tufts donor and an advocate of active citizenship, health care and education, was nominated in September by President Barack Obama and recently appointed by the Senate to serve as a representative to the 64th session of the U.N. General Assembly.
In the largely ceremonial position, which lasts for one year, she is concentrating on human rights issues, specifically focusing on the politics surrounding enslavement and sex trafficking of women, she told the Daily.
Schuster and her family have donated millions of dollars over the years to Boston-area universities for programs designed to promote active citizenship, including a $1 million fund at Tufts she established with her husband Gerald (A '82) in 2004 to bolster active citizenship programs. Schuster is a member of the Board of Advocates of the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service.
As a representative, or public delegate, to the General Assembly, Schuster will have a chance to work with professional diplomats and give advice on her specific areas of expertise.
Schuster is a major democratic fundraiser and has been actively involved in the Massachusetts State Democratic Party, chairing the New England Democratic Women's Leadership Forum. She is a member of the corporation of Partners Health Care and served for eight years on the President's Advisory Committee on the Arts, according to the White House press release.
Although Schuster never attended college at Tufts, her immediate family entirely consists of Tufts graduates, as does part of her extended family.
All three of her sons — Mark (A '78), Scott (A '79) and Todd (A '82) — graduated from Tufts, as did her granddaughter, Elizabeth (LA '08).
Schuster told the Daily that she initially got involved at Tufts because the university's priorities are in line with her own.
"Tufts has always been at the forefront of inspiring active citizenship in the past," Schuster said.
Active citizenship is "something I've always been interested in," she added. "My husband and I have established a lot of centers to learn English as a [second] language and to be active in the community."
She co-founded PEACE, a leading community-based entity that provides help to inner-city children, according to a White House press release. Brigham and Women's Hospital, Franciscan Hospital for Children and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester, among other groups, have all honored Schuster, according to the release.
Schuster's son Mark told the Daily that one of the reasons that his parents are involved with and generous toward Tufts is their fervent support for University President Lawrence Bacow's community and global-awareness initiatives.
The Schuster family has also contributed millions to Brandeis University, particularly in support of an innovative investigative journalism program.
In 2007, Schuster and her husband gave $5 million to Brandeis' initiative, now called the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism. The institute emphasizes non-partisan reporting and human rights agendas.
Mark Schuster believes that his mother's financial support for investigative journalism at Brandeis is a bridge to her work at the United Nations, as both the institute and the global body are concerned with the improvement of human rights on the world stage.
"The university's interest in promoting and supporting human rights was what led to my parents' donation," he said. "The interest dovetails … my mother's U.N. appointment. She has the charge to work and promote the cause of human trafficking."
Florence Graves, the founding director of the institute, commented that Schuster "leapt at the opportunity to fund investigative reporting into issues of social justice precisely because she understands — through her own charitable and community work — what an enormous effect this kind of in-depth and investigative reporting can have on politics and public policy."
Graves called Schuster "very savvy about the media and extremely well-informed about politics," and said the philanthropist has a "very strong social conscience." That conscience, Graves added, shines through in her dedication to charitable organizations and universities.
