Audrey has long felt that one of the University of Miami's best kept secrets is its distinguished faculty. She also believes the university owes its graduates opportunities for continued education. To help merge these ideas, she established the Charles and Audrey Finkelstein Endowment Fund in 1988, coincidentally marking the fiftieth anniversary of her graduation from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Funds from the endowment were originally used to host Alumnites, a monthly lecture series showcasing UM faculty, and Alumni College Experience, a five-day "crash course" featuring a sampling of the university's academic offerings. In 1996, the Audrey Finkelstein UM Experience was created, offering returning alumni an opportunity to share the experience of today's students by showcasing some of the University's most stimulating faculty and alumni. The day-long, interactive educational series has quickly become a homecoming highlight, attracting more than 200 alumni and guests.

"It's all about lifelong learning," states both Audrey and the invitation for the recent UM Experience, held last month on the Coral Gables campus. Sessions were led by faculty from the Schools of Business, Education, Medicine, and Music and the College of Arts and Sciences as well as alumni-experts in ethics and sports management. A high point of this year's event was a special "Interview with the President" lunch, which allowed alumni to hear directly from President Donna Shalala her vision for the university.

"By virtue of the time spent here, alumni have made an investment in the University of Miami," Audrey says. "They should return to reap the benefits that UM still has to offer them." By taking advantage of such opportunities as the Audrey Finkelstein UM Experience, she hopes alumni will leave mentally richer and rededicated to their university.

Audrey's own commitment to her alma mater reaches far and wide. In addition to alumni education, she supports programs in the School of Music, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Lowe Art Museum, Athletics, and the Richter Library, for which she established an endowment for the acquisition of books by and about women. She is a member of the Alumni Council, the Dean's Council for the College of Arts and Science, Iron Arrow, Mortar Board, ODK, and the Dade County Women's Guild, for which she is an honorary president. She has also served as a member of the University's Board of Trustees and was a founding member of the University's Women's Commission, established by former UM president, Henry King Stanford. In recognition of her many gifts of time, talent and financial resources, Audrey was awarded the William R. Butler Community Service Award at the 2002 Alumni Recognition Award Reception this past spring.

In addition to her involvement with the University of Miami, Audrey is a long time community activist, taking up causes like Women's Rights when it wasn't popular to do so. She broke ground as the first female officer of the local United Fund (forerunner to the United Way), the first female chair of the Community Relations Board, and the first female president of the Miami Chapter of the American Jewish Committee (which also made her the first woman to hold the office in any chapter in the nation). She has served as president or vice president of numerous local and national organizations, including the Housing Opportunities Project for Excellence (HOPE), Inc., Girl Scouts USA and the local Girl Scouts Council, American Women in Radio and Television, and Women in Communication. Many people may also recognize her as the voice behind the radio show "Straight Talk" on WLRN, which she has hosted for more than 25 years.

Of all of these accomplishments, she says that her most rewarding role has been as mother of two, grandmother of four and great-grandmother of three.

"Audrey is a true role model for women, for alumni, for all of us," states Donna Arbide (MBA '95), assistant vice president for Alumni Relations. "She works tirelessly for what she believes in, and we're extremely lucky that she believes in this institution and the importance of alumni education programming."

As for her six decades of service to community and university, Audrey simply states, "I'm pleased that I've had an opportunity to help good things happen."

- D'Ann Tollett