Saul Brandman (1924–2008)
As a World War II veteran, a successful businessman and generous philanthropist, Saul Brandman was an individual of passion, perseverance and ingenuity who helped transform many communities.
While born on August 25, 1924, in Brooklyn, New York, to Morris and Manya Brandman, Saul grew up in Los Angeles. He graduated from Fairfax High School, and he was a pre-med student at the University of California, Los Angeles. A patriot and a strong believer in the American dream, he chose to serve his country after college and protect the freedoms it represented by joining the U.S. Navy amid WWII.
When he returned from the war, Saul established a successful career in garment manufacturing in Los Angeles. Successful brands known as Timely Trends, Tomboy of California, Jefferson Trading and Domino of California all came to life through his vision and hard work.
Through his success in business, Saul created the Saul Brandman Foundation in the 1970s in order to give back. Since its inception, the foundation, which became the Joyce and Saul Brandman Foundation in 1993, supported more than 100 charities in the United States and internationally, helping bring change to thousands of people.
As evident by the naming of the Cedars-Sinai's Saul and Joyce Brandman Breast Center, the Brandman Centers for Senior Care at the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging, and the Saul Brandman Endowed Chair in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension at UCLA, Saul saw health care and the health sciences as critical areas of society. Through his giving, he helped spur research and massive changes in the medical arena that have helped countless lives.
However, the philanthropy he and his wife, Joyce, demonstrated went to the benefit of multiple fields. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, International Hearing and Seeing Eye Dogs and Aspen Music Association received support from the Joyce and Saul Brandman Foundation, exemplifying the couple’s desire to touch a multitude of causes, from health care to the arts, in order to provide opportunities for people of various backgrounds in their pursuits.
One of the most notable sectors impacted by the Brandmans was education. In an article in The Sentinel, Joyce Brandman shared that she and Saul were always strong advocates of higher education, believing that it was an essential step for people who wanted to better their own lives.
To this end, their foundation notably supported Hebrew University, UCLA and Chapman University College, which was renamed Brandman University in honor of the $10 million gift provided by the Brandman Foundation a year after Saul’s passing. By giving to these institutions of higher education, Saul’s foundation helped establish incredible opportunities that changed lives and spurred transformation. And in each, Saul’s spirit and memory continue. For example, one need only see how Brandman University is committed to non-traditional students, including military personnel, to witness once more Saul’s attention to veterans and the accessibility of education.
As someone whose legacy continues to impact Chapman University’s community in major ways, Saul Brandman is deserving of a bust in his likeness at the university.
