Neal Friedlander and Virginia Adams
Neal serves as co-chair of OSI-Baltimore’s Leadership Council
Today, Neal Friedlander chairs the Department of Medicine at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center. But his was an indirect path to medicine. The University of Pennsylvania graduate went to Harvard Law School and worked at the law firm of Piper & Marbury. There, he met and married Virginia Adams, a Phi Beta Kappa from William and Mary, a George Washington University law school grad and one of Piper's first women partners. At age 30, Neal decided to go to medical school and became an internist. After 13 years at Mercy Hospital, he went to GBMC.
After 22 years of corporate law practice, Ginny decided she wanted to study art history, and earned master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Maryland. She has taught art history at that University, Loyola University Maryland, and Maryland Institute College of Art, and lectures on issues of modern and contemporary art. She is a trustee of the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Enoch Pratt Free Library, whose board she has chaired. Neal co-chairs OSI-Baltimore's Leadership Council, is vice president of the board of the Contemporary Museum, and is a member of the board of directors of the Midtown Development Corporation.
Neal: I had thought about medicine even in law school. That was the late '60s and early '70s, and I'm a bit of a rebel. I was very happy at the law firm and had the opportunity to work with wonderful people. But physicians focus on individuals, and I wanted to do that in my work. Lawyers view problems from a much broader perspective, focusing on society and systems as a whole. That perspective, too, has never left me.
How does a corporate and securities lawyer become an art historian?
Ginny: Although I hadn't studied art history, I had always been interested in art. I became a weekend docent at the Baltimore Museum of Art in the early nineties, and that deepened my interest. I'm fundamentally an academic person and wanted to know much more. I finished my Ph.D. in 2007.
Reinvention seems to be a theme for you and Neal--and Baltimore.
Ginny: We may be a little crazy. I came back here in '74 to practice law. At that time, Baltimore, under Mayor [William Donald] Schaefer, was just beginning to come back. I felt Baltimore had some real potential. We love living downtown.
What motivated you to help solve Baltimore's problems?
Neal: This is our community. It's our home. It's our city. Everyone has a responsibility to try to help. It's that simple. There is the wonderful challenge of trying to make things better.
How did you get involved with philanthropy?
Neal: Baltimore is very open in terms of allowing people who want to be involved to do so, unlike certain communities that are very closed. That's a big attraction for me -- the fact that I can play a role in this community.
Why give to OSI -Baltimore?
Neal: Not only is OSI optimistic about the future of Baltimore and willing to tackle the most difficult problems, but it does so in an interdisciplinary way. Solving community problems involves any number of different interests and perspectives. OSI brings everyone to the table in order to solve problems. They also measure the results of the people they fund and insist on a return on investment. That's exactly how we should proceed.
Ginny: The fact that George Soros has committed his financial capital and personal energy to this city through OSI is testament to his belief in its potential.
What are the biggest challenges facing philanthropy?
Ginny: Baltimore is not a terribly wealthy city. We've lost many corporate headquarters over the years and have therefore lost some major corporate philanthropic contributions. Thus, it's harder to raise large amounts of money. The economic downturn has made things more difficult, and I think it's very important for institutions to be able to give donors a good sense of what their donations are accomplishing. OSI measures the results of its programs so that OSI and its donors aren't just putting money into things without knowing whether they work. That approach is vitally important.
Where is Baltimore going? Is there a second or third act in the city's future?
Ginny: A city can never stand still. I worry about the huge stock of vacant houses in Baltimore and about large pockets of poverty in East and West Baltimore. But I do feel we are progressing.
Neal: There's an openness and a willingness to embrace change in Baltimore that have been and will be the keys to our success.