These pictures tell our story.
Over our four decades, the Milken Family Foundation has been lucky to have brilliant photographers capturing our most important moments. Wherever MFF goes, so go Director of Photography Paul Bliese and his team, training their lenses on students, teachers, scientists and Foundation representatives as they work together for positive change in our world. Click through this collection for some of our favorite photos.
THE MILKEN FAMILY
While only in their thirties, brothers Lowell and Michael Milken formalize their prior philanthropic efforts with a mission to "help people help themselves and those around them" through education and medical research as the best means to achieve these goals. "My brother and I set out to realize a vision of how to nurture human potential," said Lowell. "That vision has guided us and accounts for the gains we’ve made—gains we take pride in and which fuel our optimism."
THE MILKEN FAMILY
Lowell and Michael’s parents Bernard and Ferne Milken instilled a deep sense of gratitude in their sons for their own gifts in life and responsibility for those less fortunate. Bernard passed away before MFF was founded, but Ferne played an active role in MFF's work, serving on the board and participating in many Foundation events.
THE MILKEN FAMILY
It's never too early to ignite the next generation's passion for pursuing excellence in education! MFF is indeed a family foundation, with several generations of Milkens involved at every level. In 2017, Lowell Milken's grandchildren Jake and Marin helped him surprise California Milken Educator Katherine Shaw at Washington Elementary School in Bellflower.
LEADERSHIP
Dr. Julius "Jules" Lesner joined MFF as its first executive vice president in 1987 and played an instrumental role in the growth of the Milken Educator Awards, Jewish Educator Awards, Mike's Math Club and Festival for Youth initiatives. He participated in many notifications and celebrations for educators, like this one in 1993 for the Jewish Educator Awards. "Jules was an educator to his core" said Lowell Milken when Dr. Lesner passed away in 2017. "He lived his values as a compassionate, caring individual committed to improving the lives of others."
PARTNERS
In MFF's early years, the Foundation complemented its own initiatives by providing support to myriad organizations that shared our goals. Among these were the Close Up Foundation, dedicated to kindling students’ interest in America’s democratic government and Constitution. Since 1971, Close Up has brought over 900,000 students and teachers to the nation’s capital to experience firsthand the power of the political process and how it affects them. This photo is from a 1988 event in Maryland.
PARTNERS
The Help Group serves children, adolescents and young adults with special needs related to autism spectrum disorder, learning disabilities, ADHD, developmental delays, abuse and emotional challenges. Friends often accompanied Mike Milken and the MFF team to events, like this visit in 1989 with TV and film star Whoopi Goldberg.
PARTNERS
Venice Family Clinic provides high-quality comprehensive health care to families and individuals who might otherwise go without the care they need, including this tiny patient in 1993. It serves patients at its facilities around Los Angeles, including the Milken Family Foundation Medical Building/Frederick R. Weisman Family Center in Venice. By the end of its 50th anniversary year in 2020, Venice Family Clinic had provided care to nearly 27,000 people.
PARTNERS
A long-lasting partnership with the Los Angeles Urban League, led by President John Mack, accelerated the development of opportunities in South Central Los Angeles with the Urban League Milken Family Literacy and Youth Training Center. Mack, who served as president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Urban League from 1969 to 2005 and is seen here with students in 1993, was an advocate for equal opportunities in education, law enforcement and economic empowerment for Black people and other minorities.
PARTNERS
The late Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, along with his successor Mayor Richard Riordan, partnered with MFF to create the Bradley/Milken Family Source Center. These 21 community centers, including the Westminster center pictured here at its rededication in 1996, deliver coordinated, outcome-driven services to city residents in areas of highest need.
MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS
Before the Milken Educator Award surprise begins, Lowell Milken likes to chat with students to see if they've got any idea what's ahead (they never do). He likes to get right down to their level—which sometimes means on the floor! That's what happened in the gym at Rogers Ranch School in Naveen, Arizona, where he named Principal Timothy Thomas the state's 2016 Milken Educator.
MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS
Everyone loved it when Lowell’s mother Ferne joined the team on the road for Milken Educator Award notifications, as she did here for 2003 Texas Milken Educator Jonathan Harris at Austin's Anderson High School. She often served as the keeper of the traditional blue Milken Award envelope, embossed in gold with the recipient’s name. Over the years, four generations of Milkens have participated in surprise MEA notifications!
MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS
Many honored guests have joined us over the years to help celebrate outstanding educators. MFF Trustee Rosey Grier, seen here at the 2003 surprise for Dr. Clifton "Skip" Moran at Highland Park High School in Dallas, captivated students and teachers at dozens of schools with his booming minister's voice and inspirational tales from his days as a professional football player. "What makes this day beautiful," he often said, "is that we're all here and we're all together and we're a family."
MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS
When we reveal the amount of the cash prize a new Milken Educator will be taking home, students’ eyes grow wide, as they did here at Longfellow Elementary in Mitchell, South Dakota, at the surprise notification for fourth grade teacher Amanda Christensen. We hear the same murmurs (or sometimes, shouts): WOW! THAT’S A LOT OF MONEY!
MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS
We take the element of surprise very seriously at Milken Educator Award notifications. Whether we're honoring a teacher or the principal, we go to great lengths to ensure that the Award is completely unexpected. And it shows in recipients' faces!
MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS
One of the best parts of every Milken Educator Award notification is seeing the pride in students' eyes when they see their favorite teacher celebrated like a rock star, as Kiara Hargrove's pupils did in 2007 at Maryland's Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. In fact, one of the explicit goals of the Milken Award is to inspire students to consider becoming educators themselves. And many do!
MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS
One common thread at our surprise Milken Educator Award notifications is the emotional reaction of students when they realize we're recognizing their beloved teacher. Ask Milken Educators why they teach, and their first response is always about their powerful, lasting connections with students. "Your lessons will mean nothing if you don’t take the time to build relationships with your students," says Katie McQuone Botello, the 2019 California Milken Educator shown here with proud and ecstatic pupils at Sunnyside High School in Fresno.
MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS
Whenever we surprise a teacher or principal with the Milken Educator Award, veteran Milken Educators from across the state turn out to welcome the new recipient to the family, like this proud group of New Jersey Milken Educators at Ramsey High School for the notification of Daniel Willever (NJ ’19). These outstanding educators will work together for decades to come as they brainstorm innovative strategies, collaborate to push for change in their districts and state, and elevate the profession to new heights—all to help prepare students for bright futures.
MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS
When we presented math teacher Carly Bowden with Kansas’ Milken Educator Award in 2019 at Andover Central Middle School, one very special veteran Milken Educator was part of the surprise: Brad Nicks (KS ’09). A decade earlier, when Brad received the Award at Shawnee Heights High School in Tecumseh, then-student Carly was in the audience to witness her mentor’s big moment. Emotions ran high when Carly saw “Coach Nicks” at her notification. With his encouragement, Carly began teaching during high school, delivering math lessons to her peers when the class had a sub. That's two generations of outstanding educators!
MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS
Media love a good story, and there's nothing better than the surprise of a lifetime for a deserving educator! Television crews, radio producers and newspaper reporters line the room with notebooks, huge lenses and powerful microphones—we call it "tripping over tripods"—to capture the emotional moment when a teacher or principal gets the career-changing Milken Educator Award. After the notification, the new Milken Educator is the star of the show, surrounded by cameras and recording devices. Here, 2011 California Milken Educator Dr. Manuel Rustin takes his turn in the spotlight at his surprise notification at John Muir High School in Pasadena.
MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS
Every state's Milken Educators have their own way of celebrating. In Hawaii, flowers are always part of the festivities! Hawaii Governor David Y. Ige and First Lady Dawn Amano-Ige, who often join us to surprise new Milken Educators in their state, festooned 2018 recipient Sara King with traditional celebratory leis at Ala Wai elementary in Honolulu.
MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS
Gathering a new class of Milken Educators for the MEA Forum is always exciting, with panel discussions, presentations and job-alike brainstorming. And everyone enjoys the festive celebration when recipients don their fanciest outfits and toast to the decades of collaboration ahead. These recipients from the class of 2009 are MFFs—Milken Friends Forever!
From left: Matthew Reid (MI ’09); Dr. Dilhani Uswatte (AL ’09); Kira Christensen Dylla (SD ’09); Marisa Rivas (CA ’09); Drew Moneke (OR ’09); Bradley Nicks (KS ’09); Bobbi Jo Erb (AK ’09); and Deania McMillian (LA ’09)
MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS
Three Milken Educators were among five teachers chosen to carry the Olympic torch as it made its way to London for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, including Shannon Garrison (CA '08), pictured here in Edinburgh, Scotland. Samsung Electronics held a six-month global search for people who had "gone the extra mile" to participate in the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay. Shannon, Lou Gallo (TN '03) and Kathie Heusel (MT '08) only discovered their Milken Educator connection once they were on site in the U.K. "They arranged it so we ran our legs with the torch near some elementary schools," says Shannon. "The street was lined with children. It was really touching to see how excited they were—I felt like I was there with my own students." The experience is one Shannon will never forget: "It was incredible to realize that I was the only person in the world at that moment carrying a symbol of hope for our world."
Photo courtesy of Shannon Garrison
MILKEN ARCHIVE OF JEWISH MUSIC: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Lowell Milken and composer Herman Berlinski confer at the April 2000 recording of the composer’s magnum opus, “Avodat Shabbat,” in Berlin, Germany. At the age of 90, this was Berlinski’s first visit since fleeing the Third Reich for America in 1933.
MILKEN ARCHIVE OF JEWISH MUSIC: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
In May 2000, the world-famous Vienna Boys Choir recorded works from the Milken Archive, including Max Helfman's Israel Suite, Abraham Kaplan's Psalms of Abraham and Solomon Ancis's M'nuchoh v'simchoh. It was the first time the choir had recorded Hebrew liturgical music.
MILKEN ARCHIVE OF JEWISH MUSIC: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Esteemed actor Leonard Nimoy brought the Archive's work to millions of listeners with a 13-part radio series. “American Jewish Music from the Milken Archive with Leonard Nimoy” was produced in conjunction with the WFMT network and broadcast on radio stations throughout the U.S. It remains one of the Archive's most popular creations.
MILKEN ARCHIVE OF JEWISH MUSIC: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
American folk music legend Pete Seeger learned the Hebrew song "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" in 1948, shortly after he arrived in New York. He taught it to The Weavers, his folk music group, and their recording climbed the charts. In 2000, the Archive interviewed Seeger and composer Issachar Miron, following a recording of a new trilingual version—Hebrew, English and Arabic—at Pier 40 in New York City.
MILKEN ARCHIVE OF JEWISH MUSIC: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
In November 2006, the Archive celebrated its many achievements with "One People, Many Voices," a concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Leonard Nimoy emceed the event, which featured Gerard Schwarz conducting members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and a host of soloists performing selections from the Archive's repertoire.
MILKEN ARCHIVE OF JEWISH MUSIC: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
A crown jewel of the Milken Archive is its collection of oral histories, capturing and preserving the stories of composers, musicians, performers and cantors. In 1998, Yiddish theater legend Mina Bern sat for an oral history with Neil W. Levin, then the Archive's artistic director. "I'm an optimist," she said. "If there will be one Jew, there will be Yiddish theater." Last year, the Archive and UCLA's Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience created an enhanced platform to give scholars, researchers, musicians, listeners, and fans of Jewish Music increased access to the Archive's collection of oral histories.
MILKEN FESTIVAL FOR YOUTH
MFF Trustee Rosey Grier joined us for many events with Milken Festival for Youth, like this one in 2006 at Alexander Science Center School in Los Angeles. FFY, then led by MFF Senior Program Director Greg Gallagher (left), helped young people improve the lives of their community members through service projects, including environmental, intergenerational and civic activities.
MILKEN FESTIVAL FOR YOUTH
Students remove tires from a dump site at a 2008 Festival for Youth event in Guys Mills, Pennsylvania. Whether they were planting trees, cleaning up trash or spending time with senior citizens, Festival for Youth participants found tremendous satisfaction in helping their communities.
JEWISH EDUCATOR AWARDS
At every surprise Jewish Educator Award notification, Dr. Gil Graff, executive director of Builders of Jewish Education, spends a few minutes talking with students about education as a core Jewish value. In 2021, girls at YULA High School in Los Angeles listened as he talked about all the ways their teachers were preparing them for their futures, just moments before Dr. Natalie Williams, principal of the girls’ division, learned that she was the recipient of a Jewish Educator Award.
JEWISH EDUCATOR AWARDS
In 2015, MFF Executive Vice President Richard Sandler surprised art teacher Hanna Keynan with a Jewish Educator Award at Pressman Academy of Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles. Sandler has been involved with the program since its inception in 1990. "The Jewish Educator Awards call upon others in the profession to emulate the high standards of those we honor today—educators whose intelligence, scholarship, creativity and compassion help guide children to greater success, while preserving the heritage that gives meaning to that success," he told Pressman students.
JEWISH EDUCATOR AWARDS
It's not unusual for students to break into a spontaneous celebratory hora when their beloved teacher is honored with a Jewish Educator Award. The day Rabbi Shimon Abramczik received his Award in 2018, his classroom at YULA Boys High School erupted in joyful song and dance!
MIKE'S MATH CLUB
What's more fun than math? Mike's Math Club brought instructors and exciting curriculum enrichment into elementary classrooms across the country to help students fall in love with math. Mike Milken made many classroom visits himself, like this one in 1989 to Harlem School in New York City.
MIKE'S MATH CLUB
The teachers who worked with Mike's Math Club students never hesitated to let their silly sides show—it was all about connecting with kids to show them that math doesn't have to be boring or stodgy! Longtime MFF staffer Lamarr Smith often donned a chef's hat, as did some of the students during this 1993 visit to McKinley Elementary in Santa Monica, CA. "Chef Lamarr" led students in the Restaurant Game, where they used math to figure out fictional restaurant orders.
MIKE'S MATH CLUB
Joni Milken-Noah is the heart of Mike's Math Club and still keeps in touch with students from around the world. Some of those students are teachers themselves and use the Club's math games with their own students!
MIKE'S MATH CLUB
When you can get elementary students to cheer for math, you're doing something right. These students at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary in Los Angeles loved the Club's math games, especially the Secret Encoder, still one of the most popular destinations on the Club's website.
LOWELL MILKEN CENTER FOR UNSUNG HEROES
A partnership between Lowell Milken and Milken Educator Norm Conard (KS ’92) launched the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes in 2007. In May 2016, the brand new Hall of Unsung Heroes opened as a museum and visitor center in Fort Scott, Kansas. The exhibits highlight individuals from history who took extraordinary actions to improve the lives of others.
LOWELL MILKEN CENTER FOR UNSUNG HEROES
At the opening of the Hall of Unsung Heroes in 2016, LMC welcomed several very special guests: the Unsung Heroes themselves. When Harry Hue and his family first saw the exhibit about his bravery during the Vietnam War, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Lt. Colonel Tran Ngoc "Harry" Hue, an officer with the South Vietnamese Army, saved countless American lives during the war. His story was uncovered by students at Seaman High School in Topeka, Kansas, with guidance from history teacher and 2014 Lowell Milken Center Fellow Susan Sittenauer.
LOWELL MILKEN CENTER FOR UNSUNG HEROES
Each year, LMC invites selected Fellows to Fort Scott to deepen their understanding of Unsung Heroes and project-based learning. During a week of professional development, Fellows are steeped in the stories and methodologies of Unsung Hero research projects. The goal: to help students cultivate a passion for learning by creating projects that initiate positive change. Students who dive into Unsung Hero projects tell LMC that those learning experiences stick with them forever. Fellows, some of whom are also Milken Educators, develop lasting professional bonds, as these 2017 LMC Fellows can attest (from left, Deanna LeBlanc, Lindsey Dowell, Merit Karise, Bill Smithyman and Ricardo Larios).
LOWELL MILKEN CENTER FOR UNSUNG HEROES
The ArtEffect Project encourages students to explore the stories of Unsung Heroes through visual arts. High school senior America Garcia's painting "Hiawatha, the Leader We Need" won the $6,000 grand prize in 2019. The painting is now on display in the Hall of Unsung Heroes in Fort Scott, along with many other ArtEffect student works.
Students submit an artist's statement with their work. Here's what America had to say about why she chose her subject: "Hiawatha is a fervent example of the potential humanity has to come together, yet it feels as though we are doing the opposite. We are surrounded by war and tension all while this hostility could be combated through the willingness of one another to compromise and communicate."
PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION
Since its early start with MFF, the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s research and impact have grown. PCF's Home Run Challenge has raised more than $80 million since 1997 for lifesaving research and prostate cancer awareness. For two weeks each spring, participants pledge a small donation for each home run hit during a Major League Baseball game. Mike Milken and the PCF team travel to ballparks around the U.S. during the Challenge, like this visit to New York's Yankee Stadium for a 2018 game against the Washington Nationals.
PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION
The late baseball legend Tommy Lasorda generously used his influence for many MFF initiatives, including Milken Educator Award notifications and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Through PCF’s Home Run Challenge, he participated in over 60 in-game broadcasts, doing hundreds of hours of service to raise awareness and funds for cutting-edge prostate cancer research. Whenever Tommy showed up with MFF, he drew adoring crowds of all ages, like this 2005 stop at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia for a Phillies-Dodgers game.
MILKEN INSTITUTE
The Milken Institute’s FasterCures center, which addresses all life-threatening diseases—along with PCF, the Melanoma Research Alliance and MFF with specialized programs in areas like prostate cancer, melanoma and epilepsy—has accelerated medical progress for decades. In 2012, Mike Milken led a Celebration of Science in Washington, D.C., which focused government and industry on the payoff from medical research.
MILKEN SCHOLARS
Mike Milken spends time with Scholars each year at the Milken Scholars Summit. Led by Scholars staff and a range of talented facilitators and guest speakers, the annual event provides a forum for new and alumni Scholars to discuss issues critical to their success at America’s most prestigious colleges and universities, and in their future careers. More importantly, the Summit provides opportunities for Scholars to form and renew friendships, reflect on their personal growth and exchange ideas and aspirations.
MILKEN SCHOLARS
The annual Milken Scholars Summit is the start of lifelong friendships, mentor relationships and participation in a supportive community. Scholars serve their communities at school and at home with group activities including beach cleanups, preparing and serving meals to the homeless, packaging meals for delivery to home-bound individuals suffering from chronic illnesses, and community gardening. The team also visits Scholars on campus, offers internship and career counseling, and provides each Scholar with a fund to help pay for expenses associated with graduate school applications, the job interview process, unpaid internships, study abroad programs and other opportunities related to the pursuit of career goals.
MILKEN SCHOLARS
Many Milken Scholars go on to illustrious careers in medicine, engineering, law, business and public service. In 2016, Amanda Gorman joined the Milken Scholars family in Los Angeles before heading to study at Harvard. Since then she's become a best-selling author, the first National Youth Poet Laureate and known around the world for her performance of her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the 2021 inauguration for U.S. President Joe Biden.
THE FUTURE OF MFF
As MFF begins its fifth decade, Mike and Lowell Milken continue their intense focus on driving innovation and excellence in education, medical research and the pursuit of the American Dream.