Joyce Brandman, entrepreneur and lifelong philanthropist, is the former President of the American Friends of the Hebrew University Western Region Board of Directors.

Mrs. Brandman and her husband Saul, of blessed memory, have supported the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for decades. In addition to the endowed Chair in Cardio Pulmonary Research at the Institute for Medical Research, their financial assistance and dedication has provided scholarships for dozens of students and helped build the new Scopus Student Village.

In 2008, with the passing of her beloved husband Saul, Mrs. Brandman became President of The Saul & Joyce Brandman Foundation, which gives support to numerous charities, including AFHU, Chapman University, Brandman University, HELPS International, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, Our House, Jewish Free Loans, International Hearing Dog, UCLA Pulmonary Research, and the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging, where they funded a loan program for new nurses and provided initial funding for the Home’s program for all-inclusive senior day care.  In addition to these charities, The Saul & Joyce Brandman Foundation is also involved with many charitable organizations in Israel.

In 2010, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem dedicated its state-of-the-art Science Teaching Labs Building in the name of Joyce and Saul Brandman in honor of the generous grant made to AFHU by the Brandman Foundation. That same year, The Hebrew University bestowed a prestigious Honorary Fellowship on Joyce herself.

It has always been Mrs. Brandman’s mission to run the foundation doing what Saul would have wanted and carrying on the legacy of tzedakah that they forged together.

Harkening back to the lessons she learned as a child, Mrs. Brandman’s philanthropy is not limited to grant-making. She travels to Guatemala annually with HELPS International, volunteering her services to support doctors and nurses who perform surgeries in field hospitals in the countryside for people who would not otherwise have access to medical care. As part of her dedication to women’s causes, Mrs. Brandman volunteers a great deal of time at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, counseling women diagnosed with breast cancer, teaching women about the warning signs of the disease, and also volunteering in the Labor and Delivery department.