Doctor of Humane Letters
“Receiving an honorary degree from Yeshiva University is a great honor from such a renowned university. The people who have preceded me have been quite remarkable and to be in this company is incredible."
For Froma Benerofe, a desire to have a personal impact on people has led to a fulfilling and challenging career in social work. A clinical social worker now in private practice, Mrs. Benerofe has counseled and assisted children and adolescents, victims of interpersonal trauma and domestic violence, survivors of sexual abuse and parents coping with the needs of their children for more than 20 years. “I’ve always wanted to help people who wouldn’t ordinarily receive good social services,” she says, “and this is critical for people who have suffered through trauma.”
Her expertise as a social worker and Jewish communal leader were blended when she joined the board of overseers of Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work. “The Wurzweiler program serves the community and people in a profound way and it is so important for me to support future social workers as they prepare to enter the profession,” Mrs. Benerofe says. “My values include education, my profession and Jewish communal service. Wurzweiler brings together these values.”
Mrs. Benerofe’s honorary degree from YU demonstrates her caring for others. “I hope it will inspire others to participate in Wurzweiler and YU and contribute time and energy to the School of Social Work,” she explains. “Receiving an honorary degree from Yeshiva University is a great honor from such a renowned university. The people who have preceded me have been quite remarkable and to be in this company is incredible.”
Mrs. Benerofe and her husband, Andrew, are benefactors of YU and established the Benerofe Family Scholarship at Wurzweiler. She serves as a director of the Hadassah Foundation, Westchester Jewish Community Services, UJA-Federation and the Parsons Dance Foundation. Mr. Benerofe serves as treasurer of the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center and as a member of the Commission on Jewish Identity and Renewal at UJA-Federation.
The Benerofes are the parents of Amy Benerofe and George Hylton, Nancy Benerofe and Scott Brinker, Mark Benerofe and Helena Vidal, and the grandparents of Reesa, Celeste, Elias, Ember, Jemma and Javier. Their legacy of caring has been passed down to their three children who have their own desire to have a personal impact on people. “Both daughters are in the healing professions and are educators; and our son, a former New Your City high school teacher, is now involved in the summer camp industry,” she says. “Each in their own way has chosen helping fields as opposed to the corporate arena.”