Irving A. Fradkin
Irving A. Fradkin (March 28, 1921 – November 19, 2016) was an optometrist and founder and president emeritus of Scholarship America. Fradkin has been referred to as the "Johnny Appleseed" of college scholarships due to his leadership in scholarship access; his work has received national media coverage and government support. Since its founding, Scholarship America has distributed more than $3.7 billion in scholarships and educational assistance to 2.3 million students, which the organization cites as being the largest nonprofit, private-sector scholarship support and educational support organization in the United States. Early life Fradkin was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and was the seventh and youngest child of Jewish Russian immigrants. He graduated from the Massachusetts College of Optometry in Boston (now the New England College of Optometry). In 1943, with $700 borrowed from his father, Fradkin opened his first optometry office in Fall River, Massachusetts. He married his wife, Charlotte, in 1946. Scholarship America Fradkin ran for the Fall River school committee in 1957 on a platform calling for community-supported scholarships for local students. After not being elected to the committee, Fradkin pursued his idea and founded the initial chapter of what he later called "Dollars for Scholars" in 1958, by