Our Founder, John Daniel Hertz, was an Austrian emigrant who came to the
United States and lived the American Dream. He arrived from Europe as a
very poor young boy and matured into a prominent man of many accomplishments,
most notably as a leader in the advent of the automotive age.
Throughout his life, he reiterated his appreciation for the opportunities
which this land afforded him for the achievement of success in business
and finance, as well as for the attainment of leadership in the avocation
of his and Mrs. Hertz's choice – the breeding and racing of outstanding
horses. These opportunities, he often stated, would have been denied him
in the land of his birth.
He expressed his gratitude in many ways, but the Fannie and John Hertz
Foundation, representing one of the culminating activities of his life,
was perhaps the most eloquent and enduring. It was designed to fulfill a
need which Mr. Hertz sensed long before Sputnik: this nation, in order to
survive, prosper, and lead, had to increase substantially the ranks of its
most competent engineers and applied scientists. He felt that the Foundation
could perform a notable service to the nation by fostering the education
and training of outstanding students in these areas, and, in the spirit
of the country which he revered, by doing it without discrimination by reason
of race/color, creed, sex or geographical origin. The wish of Mr. Hertz,
in establishing the Foundation, was to enhance the technological stature
of the United States.
In 1957, the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation was formed with the goal
of supporting applied sciences education. This was originally accomplished
by granting undergraduate scholarships on a national scale to qualified
and financially-limited mechanical and electrical engineering students undertaking
a curriculum fully accredited by the Engineering Council for Professional
Development.
In 1963, a special committee of the Foundation's Board of Directors, after
consultation with a large number of distinguished engineering and science
educators throughout the United States, recommended a major modification
in the Foundation's program. The Foundation, in accordance with the recommendation
of this committee, decided to phase out the national undergraduate scholarship
program, and adopted in its place a plan for the granting of postgraduate
fellowships leading to the award of the Ph.D. At that time, the scope of
the studies to be supported by Fellowships was enlarged to include both
the fields of engineering and applied sciences, with special emphasis placed
on physical sciences and the stimulation of exceptional competence and innovation-oriented
development in these fields.
The Foundation's Board of Directors believes Mr. Hertz's purpose is most
effectively accomplished by supporting the graduate studies of excellent
young men and women. We attempt to select Hertz Fellows who will become
leaders in applied scientific and technological advances, exemplars of teaching
skills in the applied physical sciences, and key contributors to the advancement
of national technological capabilities on which the long-term well-being
of the United States largely depends. We hold an annual, national competition
for Hertz Foundation graduate fellowships as a means of identifying these
future leaders and offering them our support.
Further biographical information
on Fannie and John Hertz
