In memoriam: Glorya Kaufman, USC Life Trustee and philanthropist

Glorya Kaufman, a USC Life Trustee and internationally celebrated arts patron whose historic gift created and endowed the USC Kaufman School of Dance and its landmark instructional building, the Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center, died peacefully surrounded by family and friends on Aug. 5.

Kaufman had a lifelong love for and involvement with dance, believing in its potential to heal the body, mind and spirit of people, as well as build connections across socio-cultural boundaries. The nonprofit Glorya Kaufman Foundation, which she founded in 2008, has supported world-renowned dance and art programs and nurtured children through dance at community organizations such as L.A.’s Inner-City Arts, Covenant House California, Mar Vista Family Center, and most recently at Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services with the opening of the Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center in 2023.

“Glorya’s love for dance was contagious, and she spread that love by creating opportunities for people everywhere to experience the transformative impact and joy of the arts,” USC Interim President Beong-Soo Kim said. “She was a valued trustee whom I was fortunate to spend time with just last week at the [USC Board of Trustees] meeting. Her legacy will continue to touch generations of USC Kaufman students for decades to come.”

When launched in 2012, USC Kaufman was the first new school to be established at USC in nearly 40 years. With ambitions of becoming the most elite dance school on the West Coast and on the Pacific Rim, the school opened in fall 2015 with 33 students in its inaugural class. The school’s home on the USC University Park Campus, the Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center, opened a year later.

Recently, the school honored Kaufman at a gala and fundraiser that kicked off a yearlong 10th anniversary celebration recognizing the school’s growth during the past decade, including an alumni network of more than 200 people.

‘I danced on my dad’s toes before I could walk’

“I grew up with dance,” she told The New York Times in 2013. “All the articles about me say I danced on my dad’s toes before I could walk, and I did. …

“I grew up loving what dance did,” she said. “I think dance gave me confidence. … It teaches you traditions and cultures, and that makes you — I don’t like the word ‘tolerant’ — but it makes you open. Dance opens up the world.”

Kaufman made the decision not to discuss the amount of her 2012 gift to USC, one of the largest in the history of American dance, saying: “I don’t want people focusing on a number. I want them to think about what my gift will do for the students who will have wonderful opportunities because of it.”

The historic gift to USC was not her first large donation to area arts programs. In 2009, she gave a significant gift to Los Angeles’ Music Center so that major dance companies, such as New York’s Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, could perform in Southern California through her Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance series. In what was the largest arts gift to the University of California system at the time, she provided funding to UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture in 1999 to renovate its dance building, which was named after her.

Kaufman also gave to the Alvin Ailey company and to the Juilliard School.

“Glorya was a visionary in every way, particularly in recognizing the profound impact that dance brings to people’s lives daily,” USC Kaufman Dean Julia M. Ritter said. “Her generosity was truly life-changing for so many — of course, for the students studying at USC Kaufman, yet also for audiences who have benefited from her dedication to excellence in dance training and performance.

“In just 10 short years, Glorya transformed her vision of exceptional dance education in Los Angeles into one of the most prominent dance programs in the country,” Ritter said. “She took great pride in knowing that her passion for dance translated into Kaufman students graduating with deep levels of artistry and expertise to share with national and international audiences. It is no exaggeration to say that she shaped today’s global artistic landscape through her support of the creative voices of a new generation of dancers. Her legacy will continue through every USC Kaufman graduate who carries her ideals forward on stages around the world.”

Dedicated to phanthropic ventures

A native of Detroit, Kaufman was married to homebuilder Donald Kaufman, co-founder of the Fortune 500 building company Kaufman & Broad, now KB Home. Since her husband’s death in 1983, she dedicated herself to philanthropic ventures. Among her first major gifts was a challenge grant to rebuild the Los Angeles Public Library’s Donald Bruce Kaufman-Brentwood Branch Library, named for her late husband in honor of his love of reading.

Kaufman’s contributions helped many Los Angeles area nonprofits, including St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Cedars-Sinai/USC Glorya Kaufman Dance Medicine Center, the Jules Stein Eye Institute, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, City of Hope and the American Jewish University. Her donation created the Glorya Kaufman Eye Clinic at the Venice Family Clinic, which offers free eye exams and eyeglasses to area children.

She was a founding member of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, a patron of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and sat on the Board of Directors of the Geffen Playhouse, where she donated an outside reception area. And just this year she opened the Glorya Kaufman Community Center, a state-of-the-art multi-use facility in Culver City.

Twice named Brentwood’s Citizen of the Year, Kaufman was honored by the National Dance Education Organization, the Westwood Village Rotary Club and the Fulfillment Fund. In 2008, she received City of Hope’s highest honor for philanthropic endeavors. In recognition of her dedication to dance education, Kaufman was awarded honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees from USC in 2013, Fordham University in 2011, and Juilliard in 2010. She was elected to the USC Board of Trustees in 2012.

Kaufman is survived by her children, Laura, Gayl, Curtis and Zuade, a 2005 USC master’s degree recipient; and her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

There will be a private service for family and friends.