Bernard Rapoport was born in 1917 in San Antonio, Texas. The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1939 with a degree in economics. In 1951 he founded the American Income Life Insurance Company in Waco, serving as chair and CEO of the company. This success in business led him to receive the 1999 Horatio Alger Award of Distinguished Americans, given to those who succeed despite adversity.
A former University of Texas System regent, 1993-1997, and major contributor to the university, Rapoport is widely known for his philanthropy and dedication to social justice, education, the Democratic Party, and the State of Israel. Rapoport has been active in numerous organizations such as the Central Texas Sickle Cell Anemia Association, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, the National Hispanic Center for Advanced Studies and Policy Analysis, the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, the Texas Observer, the United Negro College Fund, and the Jerusalem Foundation. Furthermore, he and his wife Audre founded the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation in 1987 with their personal contribution of $47 million. The foundation supports education, the arts, Jewish causes, participation in democracy, and health and human services organizations.
Correspondence, meeting notes, clippings, family documents, photographs, business records, speeches and published material comprise the Bernard Rapoport Papers, 1913-1914, 1941-, which documents Bernard Rapoport’s involvement in business, politics, philanthropy, and education. Rapoport’s voluminous correspondence comprises the bulk of the papers, and is arranged according to subject. Furthermore, the papers contain materials relating to the American Income Life Insurance Company and Rapoport’s term of service on the University of Texas Systems Board of Regents, 1993-1997. The papers include issues of several publications such as
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Bernard Rapoport Papers, 1913-1914, 1941-, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
See also
This collection is currently undergoing processing by Laurel Rozema, Rapoport Project Archivist, 2011-2012. Please contact repository for most up-to-date inventory.