Alice Wimpfheimer: MS, RDN, CDN, Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist, Centenarian, and Trust Legacy Society Member
“Before we had to flee Hitler’s persecution, our Jewish family was prospering in Germany. My father Eugen was a third-generation owner of a malt factory. He was passion-ate about his work and grew the company to be one of the largest suppliers to breweries in the country. My mother, Clémence, was Swiss, and longed to see the world, though her options were limited because she was a woman.
In 1939, my mother, with her Swiss heritage, and I immigrated to New York on the SS Manhattan while my father stayed back. He joined us later when he could obtain a visa as a German citizen through Cuba. I was 15 years old when we moved into the Bolivar Hotel on the Upper West Side. It’s a co-op now, and while I’ve traveled the world, I’ve been able to call the Bolivar homebase for 85 years.
I’ve always loved to cook and received a cooking badge as a girl scout in Switzerland. As a result, I make a very good schnitzel. And so, my love of food, and my belief that no one should go hungry, drove my life-long dedication to advancing nutrition around the world. We must think and act as a global society and learn from each other. My mantra is ‘collaboration rather than duplication.’ Food and music go a long way toward building intercultural understanding.
Throughout my career, I have funded and led various nutrition projects through the International Confederation of Dietetics Associations and through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. I founded the Wimpfheimer-Guggenheim Fund for International Ex-change in Nutrition, Dietetics, and Management, which funds scholarships that brought students from more than 20 countries to study in the U.S. so that they can better fight hunger and malnutrition in their home countries.
But my fund in The New York Community Trust has little to do with food. The fund will honor my parents and the things they cared about, including efforts that foster understanding between Jews, Christians, and Muslims, which is work we need to do now more than ever.”