Lilly Reiser Scholarship

UJF Announces Application Window for Year 2 of the Lilly Reiser Scholarship

United Jewish Federation of Stamford, New Canaan, and Darien (UJF) is excited to announce the

application window for the second year of the Lilly Reiser Scholarship. The Scholarship will

provide $10,000 college scholarships per year for a total of ten (10) Jewish students from

Connecticut and New York, who will be attending an accredited US-based college or graduate

school during the 2025-2026 academic year. Awards will be based on a combination of both need

and merit. The winning applicants will demonstrate the potential to live up to Lilly Reiser’s example,

as a person who overcame significant hardship, prized education, and became a responsible and

productive citizen.

The scholarship application window will be open from January 27 through March 24, 2025.

Lilly E. Reiser (1924-2020) was born in the small town of Moravska-Ostrava in the Czechoslovak

Socialist Republic (now the Czech Republic). Having suƯered the inhumanity and indignity of forced

labor and internment during the Holocaust at Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belson, Lilly

was eventually liberated from Bergen-Belson by British soldiers. She emigrated to the United States

in 1945 and was only able to obtain her degrees because of the generosity of various Jewish

communal organizations, that provided her with the scholarships necessary to do so. Lilly

completed her undergraduate education at Hunter College and went on to achieve a graduate

degree from Columbia University’s New York School of Social Work. She proudly served as a social

worker in the New York City Public School system for over 50 years. Ever thankful for the financial

support she received from the organized Jewish community, Lilly wanted to provide similar support

to deserving and financially challenged students of Jewish faith.

“I can’t think of a more special way to honor Lilly’s memory, than by honoring her wishes to assist

young Jews achieve their academic dreams like she did,” said Eric Ross, UJF Deputy Director.

For more information and scholarship requirements, please visit www.ujf.org/LillyReiser, or contact

UJF Deputy Director Eric Ross at Eric@ujf.org.

PLEASE NOTE, LIMITED AVAILABILITY: As nine (9) of the ten (10) available scholarships were

awarded last year, there will only be one (1) new scholarship to award for the 2025-2026 academic

year. If any of the existing awardees do not meet the minimum requirements for renewal of their

scholarship, then their award will be granted to the next runner(s)-up.