The FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University is sad to announce the passing of Elaine Wolfensohn, who represented her husband Jim Wolfensohn on the FXB Center’s Advisory Committee.
For over forty years, Mrs. Wolfensohn was involved in the field of education and arts education while raising her family. Her work in Australia and the United States included teaching in private schools, creating teen tutoring programs in inner-city schools, and training adult volunteers to tutor high school students. Mrs. Wolfensohn was educated at Wellesley College, where she received her B.A. She went on to receive her M.A. in French Literature from Columbia and her M.Ed. in counseling psychology from Teachers College.
Mrs. Wolfensohn’s commitment to education also extended into her community advisory work. For years, she chaired the Program Committee of the National Board of Young Audiences. She was President Emeritus of the Board of Directors of the American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic. In addition, she served on the boards of Math for America, the Open University Foundation, and the Davidson School at the Jewish Theological Seminary. She was on the oversight board of Park City Math Institute and the Advisory Council of BRAC, as well as the Presidential Advisory Committee of Teachers College. During her husband’s presidency of the World Bank, Mrs. Wolfensohn worked closely with the Bank on issues of early child development, education and gender. With the Wolfensohn Development Center at Brookings, she was engaged in work on early childhood development and Middle East youth inclusion.
We thank Mrs. Wolfensohn for her many contributions to the FXB Center and extend our deepest condolences to her loved ones.