As president of the Alumni Association Board of Governors, I witness many traditions that make Einstein Montefiore such a powerful institution. One of my favorites is Match Day, which occurs every March in honor of our fourth-year medical students. At noon, after a ceremonial gong toll, students tear open envelopes alongside their peers in Lubin Dining Hall to learn where they will continue their education as resident physicians. Seeing these students, hearing their stories and experiencing the excitement of their excitement is a wonderful reminder that we—fellow alumni, friends, donors, volunteers, faculty, staff and community members—are working toward the same goals: to heal, to teach, to discover and to advance the health and social justice of the communities we serve.

I am pleased to add to Einstein Montefiore’s long list of traditions with this inaugural issue of Motivations, the office of development’s new section within Einstein magazine dedicated to the frontline of philanthropy. In the following pages, we highlight some of the distinctive people and programs you help support, from caring for pediatric patients and their families at the Rose F. Kennedy Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center to the innovations in our 3D surgical laboratory to the doctors and alumni who champion our mission. My hope is that you see yourself—and, just as important, the impact of your relationship with us—in these stories, and feel pride in both where we’ve come from and where we’re headed.

Initiatives such as Match Day and Motivations are great examples of how we celebrate our commitment to the excellence, innovation and humanism embedded in Einstein Montefiore’s history. These ideals form the foundation of a great academic medical center—and they are, indeed, our greatest traditions.

With warm wishes,