Adrienne Arsht, Business Leader and Philanthropist, to Receive Prestigious 2025 Horatio Alger Award
Horatio Alger Association names 12 outstanding individuals, each of whom has overcome adversity to achieve professional and personal success, to its Member Class of 2025
WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization that honors the achievements of outstanding leaders who have overcome adversity and supports promising young people to pursue their American Dream through higher education and technical scholarships, today announced that Adrienne Arsht, executive vice chair of the Atlantic Council, founding chairman of the Adrienne Arsht Center Foundation and chairman emerita of TotalBank, has been selected for membership in this prestigious organization. Ms. Arsht joins 11 other exceptional corporate, civic and cultural leaders from across the country in receiving 2025 honors. For the last 78 years, the Horatio Alger Award has been annually bestowed upon esteemed individuals who have succeeded despite facing significant challenges, and who have remained committed to higher education and charitable efforts in their communities and beyond.
Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Ms. Arsht learned the importance of philanthropy and being active in the community from a young age. Her father was a corporate lawyer, and her mother, also a lawyer, was the first female judge in Delaware. A gifted student, Ms. Arsht skipped her senior year of high school to attend Mount Holyoke College, where she earned her bachelor's degree before graduating with a juris doctor from Villanova University Law School. In 1969, Ms. Arsht's younger sister, Alison, was working for the State Department in Moscow when she was taken and interrogated by the KGB. Unable to recover from the harrowing experience, she took her own life. This tragedy profoundly shaped Ms. Arsht's commitment to studying resilience as it relates to humans, the military, security systems, climate and the environment.
After earning her law degree, Ms. Arsht began her career as an attorney at Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell before joining the legal department and becoming the first woman to join senior management at Trans World Airlines in the early 1970s, breaking barriers in a male-dominated industry. Embracing her knack for entrepreneurship, she founded a title company in 1979 before moving to Miami to run her family-owned bank, TotalBank. By the time she sold the business in 2007, Ms. Arsht had grown TotalBank from four to 14 locations with assets exceeding $1.4 billion. In addition to her business acumen, Ms. Arsht is a renowned philanthropist, dedicated to promoting artistic, business and civic growth in the three cities she calls home: Washington, D.C., Miami and New York.
"Resilience is a trait that each and every Horatio Alger Member and Scholar possesses," said Ms. Arsht. "To join an organization that recognizes and honors our ability to survive and find a way to move forward is extraordinarily special. The mission of the Horatio Alger Association is critically important, and I look forward to engaging with my fellow Members to provide meaningful opportunities for promising young people."
Ms. Arsht's philanthropic decisions are based on how she can make a major difference and often will decide to support something if nobody else seems to want to do it. Committed to better understanding resilience, Ms. Arsht donated $10 million to the Smithsonian Institution to launch the Adrienne Arsht Community-Based Resilience Solutions Initiative, a multi-year program focused on educating the public about the role resilience plays in shaping the world around us. She also endowed the first-ever fully paid internship program at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, offering undergraduate and graduate students invaluable hands-on experience and inspiring other institutions to follow suit. Ms. Arsht further supported the Met through a $10 million donation to the METLIVEARTS performance series, which marked the largest gift in support of the Department of Live Arts.
Ms. Arsht has given generously to Miami's Performing Arts Center, where her $30 million gift secured its future and led to the renaming of the venue to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. Passionate about education, Ms. Arsht has also supported institutions like iCivics, which was founded by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and seeks to provide quality civic education opportunities for new generations of learners; Goucher College, where she funded the Roxana Cannon Arsht Center for Ethics and Leadership; and the University of Miami, where she supported the creation of the Arsht Ethics Programs. Ms. Arsht has received numerous distinctions in recognition of her incredible philanthropy, most recently, she was awarded the Order of Princess Olga, III degree by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for strengthening cooperation between Ukraine and the United States.
"Adrienne Arsht's journey is one of exceptional perseverance and unwavering dedication to uplifting others," said Barbara Barrett, 25th Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, President of the Association and 1999 Horatio Alger Award recipient. "From breaking barriers in the corporate world to building an incomparable legacy of philanthropy, she exemplifies the values we celebrate at the Horatio Alger Association. I am proud to welcome her as a Member and look forward to witnessing the powerful impact she will have on our organization as we seek to advance our mission and further our reach."
The Horatio Alger Association was established in 1947 and today is dedicated to promoting and ensuring the American Dream for future generations. Through its Members, the Association aims to teach young people about the limitless possibilities available through the American free-enterprise system. Since 1984, the Association has awarded annual need-based scholarships to high school students who have overcome significant obstacles and showcase a commitment to continuing their education and making a unique contribution to society. The scholarships are possible because of the generosity of Association Members, who have collectively provided more than $265 million to 37,000 students over the past 40 years.
Ms. Arsht and the Member Class of 2025 will be formally inducted into the Association during the 78thHoratio Alger Award Induction Ceremonies in Washington, D.C. from April 3-5, 2025. The annual three-day event honors the achievements of both Members and National Scholars, who will have the unique opportunity to meet, interact and exchange stories of perseverance throughout the multi-day celebration.
For more information about Horatio Alger Association and its Member Class of 2025, please visit www.horatioalger.org and follow the organization on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and X.
About Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans:
Founded in 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc. is dedicated to the simple but powerful belief that hard work, honesty and determination can conquer all obstacles. The Association honors the achievements of outstanding leaders who have accomplished remarkable successes in spite of adversity by bestowing upon them the Horatio Alger Award and inducting them as lifetime Members. Horatio Alger Members support promising young people with the resources and confidence needed to overcome adversity in pursuit of their dreams through higher education. Through the generosity of its Members and friends, in 2025, the Association has budgeted to award more than $17.4 million in undergraduate and graduate need-based scholarships to students across the United States and Canada, and continues to provide comprehensive academic, personal, and professional support services to its Scholars. Over the past 40 years, more than $265 million has been awarded in undergraduate, graduate, military veteran and career and technical education scholarships to more than 37,000 deserving students. For more information, please visit www.horatioalger.org.
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SOURCE Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc.