Friedman Honors His Father's Legacy in North Carolina
By Amy Scerba

manuel Friedman (BA ’67), co-chairman and co-chief executive officer of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc., a leading national investment bank headquartered in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, has donated $25,000 to establish The Rabbi Samuel A. Friedman MBA Fellowship at UNC Kenan-Flagler. 

The fellowship honors his father, who was born in Jerusalem’s Old City in 1911 and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1917. One of Rabbi Friedman’s earliest posts was in Plymouth, Mass., where he became the first rabbi in the United States to deliver the Thanksgiving sermon at Plymouth Rock. 

Rabbi Friedman had strong ties to North Carolina, having served the B’nai Israel Congregation in Wilmington for 20 years and Congregation Beth Israel in Asheville for 15 years.  He was active in the Greater Carolina Association of Rabbis, serving as the group’s president and historian. He also provided religious education for hundreds of children throughout North Carolina, including many whose parents were stationed at Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune.

 “I am honored to be establishing the Rabbi Samuel A. Friedman fellowship at UNC Kenan-Flagler,” Emanuel Friedman said. “As a rabbi, my father had an unwavering commitment to ethical leadership, and, as a teacher, he had a strong belief in the value and importance of education. It is my hope that this fellowship will serve as a recruitment tool for students with extraordinary leadership potential and a desire to make the world a better place.”