Established in 1953, the Martin Gang Institute for Intergroup Relations is dedicated to the promotion of understanding between religious and ethnic communities in Southern California. Jointly administered by AJC Los Angeles and the Center for Religion and Spirituality, the focus of the Institute is to provide research and educational opportunities in intergroup relations for lay and ordained leaders, educators, social workers, civic officials and other interested stakeholders.
The Institute is administered by an executive committee, which manages its budget, operations, and approves all sponsored projects, research and other programs.
History of the Institute
The 1950s in Los Angeles were a tumultuous time for racial and religious discrimination. To begin addressing these concerns raised by early pioneers of interreligious dialogue in Los Angeles, then-Loyola University President Charles S. Casassa, S.J., and his friend Martin Gang – a Los Angeles lawyer, community leader, and activist for social justice – established a summer workshop for community leaders in 1953. Sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles, and other academic institutions, the Loyola Workshop for Human Resources and Group Dynamics taught students about issues of discrimination in the work place, how to assess them and how to overcome them properly. The Workshop catered to clergy, religious ministers, civil servants, corporate employees, social workers, and medical professionals.
Dr. Neil Sandberg, then-Regional Director of AJC Los Angeles, succeeded Dr. William Fitzgerald as director in the early 1970s and assisted Fr. Casassa, as Chancellor of LMU, to establish an endowment to fund the Workshop in perpetuity. At their request to LMU President Donald Merrified, S.J., the Workshop was named the Martin Gang Institute in honor of Mr. Gang’s longstanding support of the program and generous contributions to the endowment. Dr. Sandberg continued to direct the Institute in LMU Extension up until his retirement from the program in 2009.
Today, the Martin Gang Institute, under the direction of an executive committee, has expanded beyond the initial human resources workshop to include research and sponsored programs that promote understanding between religious and ethnic communities in Southern California.
Founding Advisory Board
Mr. Martin Gang, Co-Chair
Mr. Victor H. Rossetti, Co-Chair
Mr. Don Belding
Mr. James Hilton
Mr. Bob Hope
Dr. Joseph Pollia
Mr. Robert O’Dell Reynolds
Judge Lester William Roth
Mr. Irving Stone